The warden visibly tenses at the mention of the Lord-of-Three's name. "So you come at that scoundrel's behest? He and his ilk in that den of evil he calls a tavern can have no good plans for the Eye. Perhaps this drow tale you tell is something he concocted! I suggest you leave immediately."
Perb's silver tongue and the fact that he is an aasimar seems to calm the warden down. "I sense you speak from the heart, aasimar. Perhaps, I was too hasty in judging your intentions. And your dedication to Cayden speaks well of you. Please follow me. I will let the Eye judge the worthiness of your request."
Humbart leads you all toward the Eye and the others currently praying make way for you. The eye that gives this place its name is a strange object, with asegmented, insectlike covering of brass and copper fittings. The light from the glowing altar-tripod hovers around the Eye as well, lighting up every mote of dust near it. A number of levers next to it control its functioning. One of the large bearlike archons stands beside the levers, alert and watching you. Humbart speaks, "Time to be judged! Stay still."
At Humbart's command, the archon pulls some controls and the brass segments of the Eye snap back one by one, releasing aray of light so bright it seems like a solid pillar. It points up at the ceiling, reflecting down to the pillars and making the temple floor as bright as noon. As each segment snaps away from the Eye, the light shines directly at more and more of the temple interior; when the final segment drops beneath the Eye, revealing it completely, the light touches each of you. You can’t see anything around you except as flickering shadows; solid people and pillars look transparent in this light. You feel it as a source of warmth and inquisitiveness—living light that burrows into your body to your soul. Voices echo within the light. Somewhere nearby, you distinctly hear the scratching of a quill on paper, a sound so soft that you don’t understand how you can perceive it in such a large, noisy temple.
The light from the Eye glows stronger and you are all blind now!
Senna blinks against the dazzling light and ponders what exactly the scratching quill is scratching out.
Braegan wanders down an alley, chewing a bite of what looks like a blue apple but tastes like an under-ripe grape as he idly wonders what his teammates are up to.
"Eye, Jaydavu is trusting you. Do not abuse the trust, and now let us see again."
Tark grips the handle of his weapon tight, knuckles going white - "I'm not likin' this..." - he grumbles - "We wanna know hot ta blind tha Spider Queen!" - he roars.
Six seconds pass....then another...then another with you in the darkness. Amazingly you maintain your cool and do not freak out...much. The sound of a quill moving over paper stops. You hear the clank of metal, and suddenly you are wrapped in black shadow. The light is gone, but you still see traces of it shining overhead. With a final clunk, even that light is gone. The world seems black, even though you see pillars and walls and creatures around you. A piece of paper in your hands shines with an echo of the vanished light.
You all suddenly hear the voices of archons echoing in your minds. Only Perb understands that the language spoken is Celestial. He hears:
The bow of beasts dissolves the taint of the corrupted,
The bitter ice hides a giant’s sword to crack Abyssal armor.
Search The Lady’s wisdom and the book of flesh,
Bide your time, and flee when the goddess shakes her web.
A pair of keys: a blackened tongue, a golden word,
Pass through three gates: serpent, darkness, stone.
Kill the queen in her black pearl, and find
Near the throne a fourth gate — home.
Afterwards, you all reappear back in the Temple of the Prophet, with a sheet of paper in your hands, upon which are written the two stanzas cited above.
Humbart nods at all of you. "The Eye has deemed you worthy. Go in peace."
Shortly thereafter, you spot Braegan outside.
"Well, that was strange. Group visited the Eye and only got dumb poem. Is this what Three was talking about?"
Braegan takes a look at the paper, frowning in concentration as he reads the stanzas. ”A few things jump out at me as possibly important. ‘Bow of beasts’ … ‘bitter ice hides a giant’s sword’ … Lady’s Wisdom and ‘book of flesh’.” He pauses, eyes jumping down a few lines. ”Then still, the two keys: ‘blackened tongue’ and ‘golden word’. The three gates.”
He shrugs with a look at the group, ”Any ideas?”
You all head back to the Styx. When you arrive, the Lord-of-Three has instructions that you be taken to his personal booth in the corner. He dismisses the concubine he is with. "So were you able to get the Prophecy?" He waits and assuming you say yes, he continues.
"Excellent! Well done, and good work! You have the prophecy. Please let me take a look and consider the alternatives, consult the records, and offer counsel.”
When shown the prophecy, the wispy-bearded scholar reads the few words in Celestial script quickly and closes his eyes a moment to think. “This reference to beasts, animals, and creatures is surely a hint, a clue, an omen that you must go to the Beastlands to recover Thaas!”
You are all dumbfounded, but before you can ask, he keeps talking, though his voice drops to a whisper, as he looks around the room. “I hate to lecture, expound, and pontificate, but Thaas is a weapon of power, a demon killing longbow of the elves, a creation of ancient and fearsome magic. You must find it, recover it, and restore it to use.”
He closes his eyes and thinks further and ignores any questions. “You could go directly to the World Ash, the Great Tree that connects the planes, Yggdrasil. I will share with you the location of the portal, the gate, and the planar key. Go to the Hive Ward, seek out the only tree that grows there, and walk on its lowest branch, stem, or limb while humming the chant of the All-Father, a deity crucified on the tree.”
He hums a few bars of a hymn you don’t recognize, until a bone devil one table over clears his throat and his scorpion tail twitches. Lord-of-Three drops silent, then continues: “That will take you there, to Yggdrasil and then the Beastlands, far from here. There, you must seek Thaas yourselves, as a group, a united faction. I wish you good hunting, safe journey, and a quick return.”
The scholar smiles at the confused looks on your faces.
Davu remained silent not sure if he understood the language that the Lord of Three was speaking. He stared at the others for their comment if any.
The oread smiles. "Why Lord not just say that? Let's go get bow then."
Braegan listens to the Lord of Three’s words and instructions with a practiced quiet elven reserve, though the bit about recovering a legendary elven bow of power to slay demons brings obvious excitement to his features. ”Sign me up,” he mutters unobtrusively.
Braegan quietly hums the hymn a few times to make sure he’s got it committed to memory, but grins at the exchange between his teammates. ”He did, Jaydavu. He just doesn’t have your gift for brevity. So, go to the Hive Ward, find the tree, hum the song, go to the Beastlands, find the bow, take the bow, and make sure it works. That about it? You leaving anything out that we need to know?”
Senna listens, ready to get on with the mission and curious as to what the 'Beastlands' might hold.
The party shares a drink with the scholar and leaves the outsider filled bar, walking toward the Hive Ward. About a block down the street from the Styx, a towering bear warden archon, heavily armored, steps out of a store, blocking your path. He holds out a giant paw, palm forward. “You, halt! You were blessed by our prophet and you came to share its sacred knowledge with the scum that dwells in the Styx?! You are charged by the Order of the Prophet’s Eye with consorting with demons. Please come with us quietly and we can avoid unpleasantness.” Behind you, another archon steps out blocking the path as well.
The small sorceress tries to assess the threat even as she attempts to help the priest defuse the situation... poorly as it turns out. "The Wardens of the Eye know of our situation and our sources and still allowed us to speak with the Eye. Who are you to gainsay their wisdom?"
Braegan steps to the side, "Ooooh, you guys are in trouble, now."
"Davu not sure why arkons bother group. Group going to do good thing to help elfs and stop evil drows. Let Davu be. No time to waste."
Diplomacy Aid Another
"Yeah" - Tark adds - "Listen to me boys and girls - they're in da right, and we can be partin' ways without any head crackin"
With Perb's excellent verbal skills and Tark backing him up, the bear warden archons realize they may have judged you too hastily. "Perhaps you speak of truth. However, know that we do not approve of consulting demons for your knowledge. If you continue on this path, next time, we will not reconsider." The archons move away and let you pass.
You follow the Lord-of-Three's instructions to the tee, find the tree and hum the tune and you wink out of existence.
You reappear and find yourself on an enormous branch that sways slightly and is covered in sun-dappled shadows. The branch must be 50 feet in diameter,if not more. Leaves and branches block your vision in most directions, but you can look along the level surface of the branch you are on toward a gray-brown cliff a few miles away. Slowly it dawns on you that the cliff is the trunk of the tree; the tree must be literally miles tall and wide. This must be the legendary tree, Yggdrasil.
"Talk about bein' arrested for havin' a dog, and bein' arrested for NOT havin' a dog" - Tark rumbles after the Archons move away - "I'm startin' to find it will be hard not bashing a few heads in sooner or later"
Braegan blinks as his mind reorients itself to this new, strange environment, but he completes the conversation they were having moments before. "I agree. But it does bring up a good point ... we really don't know who we're dealing with in this Lord of Three. He may be our best angle to shut down this drow plan, but we don't really know who we're in bed with."
He pauses to move towards the edge of the huge branch and attempt to look down. His eyes widening at the scale of this place, and he mutters a few elven curses.
"This place is huge."
"Maybe the mice was right. Don't trust bad guys or good guys, either. Everyone seems mad at group. Need to find way to Beastlands now," the monk grumbles as he looks around at the massive tree.
As Braegan looks around, he draws out his bow ... glad to be able to openly wield it again.
Braegan sees various sets of tracks on the ground.
Senna pipes up. "I don't trust any of them: not the Divines, not the Infernals, and certainly not a collection of psychic rodents. Before we take on more of Three's errands, maybe we should see what his enemies make of him... assuming we can find a way back to Sigil."
"Sounds good to me."
"Why are we followin' tracks lad? Shouldn't we be lookin' fer that Hive Ward or whatever they callin' it?" - Tark laughs - "Couldn't we be askin' someone?"
Braegan recognizes oddly squirrel tracks on the tree but humanoid ones upright, not walking on all fours, as is normal. You also see large wolf paw prints.
Braegan frowns downward, "Right, we just came from the Hive Ward. The question is 'where to now?'." He points down at the object of his frown, "So those are squirrel tracks, but they're bipedal. What are the chances they also speak Taldan?"
The tracks seems to head SW, toward the base of the tree.
"Well, since we don't know the correct direction, any direction will do... Let's find us that squirrel."
Braegan shakes his head, following the tracks. "I can hear it now ..." his voice changes in tone, mimicking some other unidentified person. "'Oh, look, it's the brave hunter Braegan ... back with the legendary, demon-slaying bow of his forefathers! Braegan, however did you find it?'" He responds to himself, very matter-of-factly, "Oh, well, you know, normal hero stuff. Slew a demon. Found a magic portal. Then spent an afternoon tracking bipedal, talking hamsters. You know, the stuff of legends."
He pauses at the tree's base, stows his bow, then begins climbing in the direction of the tracks as he shakes his head. "My chapter in the tale of heroes is looking like the comedy chapter."
"Just tell'em that tha Dwarf smacked the bad guys over the head - it'll make it all that much serious" - Tark continues on a good mood - "Imma not even gonna tell ya what me brethren would think if I told'em I'd been chasing hamsters up... Or is it down a tree?"
"Anyone needs a hand with tha climbin' and all o'that?" - the sturdy dwarf offers.
Davu climbs down as well.
Climb