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Radek studies the board and smiles. "Ha! Like checkers or chess! Played both of those a few times while passin' time at the lodge. Never much fer the patience chess requires, an' I usually wound up pressin' too hard te win much. But I be passin' decent at checkers." The dwarf makes his opening move, then presses forward in an appallingly aggressive fashion, searching the board for weaknesses on the part of his opponent and potential paths to victory.
"Truly a terrible woman. Marouf, is there any way to release you?"
Marouf frowns slightly as his brow furrows. "Alas, if there is a way I am not aware of it. I suspect if there was a way, Black Moon took it with her to her grave."
Mr. Madison smiles for a moment, Marouf, perhaps you are not as totally trapped here as you think. How interested in experiencing the outside world would you be? Do you know where your soul resides? Or are you only a memory with no soul anymore?
Marouf looks conflicted at this statement, a melange of emotions roiling across his stony facade like an earthquake. When he regains his composure, he gives Mr. Madison a pained smile in return. "It would be a very difficult lie to tell you that I am not interested in your proposal. I have spent much time contemplating escaping this place, much of my hope was abandoned long ago," he says. "My soul resides in its entirety in this place; as I mentioned before creatures such as myself are one contiguous entity. Our bodies, souls, memories...they are all one. As my memory was drained, my entire existence went with it."
Meanwhile, back in the Memory Extraction Chamber....
Radek studies the board and smiles. "Ha! Like checkers or chess! Played both of those a few times while passin' time at the lodge. Never much fer the patience chess requires, an' I usually wound up pressin' too hard te win much. But I be passin' decent at checkers." The dwarf makes his opening move, then presses forward in an appallingly aggressive fashion, searching the board for weaknesses on the part of his opponent and potential paths to victory.
Tahonikepsu lifts what passes for an eyebrow on a dragon at Radek's aggressive moves. The game is actually quite close for the first half of the game, until an exceptionally risky move is made by the dwarf; resulting in the dragon cornering one of his vital pieces on the board. Radek finds himself unable to make significant further progress, while Tahonikepsu clears her tokens off in quick order. "Not bad for your first time, Radek. Be glad, though; I had to learn this from Amenophus and I have yet to beat him. He has been dangling all of the times he won over my head since I first met him. Want another round now that you have a hang of it, perhaps?" the Sage says as she resets the tokens back on the grid.
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Radek chuckles at the dragon's comments. "Well then, I be glad I'm o' service in gettin' yer confidence back. Aye, let's go again." The dwarf glances over at the inert bodies of his allies, then to Tiny, making certain that the metal creature is watching for danger before turning his attention back to the board. "Mebee I can try a bit o' patience this time, 'round. Like when I be in the wilds trappin' a wounded or sick animal."
As he makes his moves, the normally reticent dwarf launches into a story. "There was this one time I tracked a wounded brown bear fer five days. Snot-nosed nobleman dandy tha' fancied 'imself a hunter put a shaft in the poor beast's shoulder, an' he was usin' barbs! The bastard. Bear tore 'im te pieces o' course, which was better than he deserved, figurin' he died in under a minute or so. Tha' bear though was wounded fierce, an' makin' it worse by tryin' te get th' arrow out 'itself, an' only makin' the wound deeper an' more painful ever time it tried." Radek shakes his head sadly. "Killed two others durin' that time, an' by the time I caught up wit' the poor beast there was naught left te do but put her down. Damn shame."
As the dwarf speaks, his mind seems quite focused, as though recounting the tale has opened not only an unusually social aspect to the ranger seldom seen by others, but also granting him the patience he was seeking. Perhaps even good enough to beat the dragon...
Hag's Spawn! He slaps his forehead angrily. Stupid B! Didn't think of how to leave.
Marouf walks over to the entrance of Building #5, the one with the castle/palace symbol, and reaches one of his muscular arms through the misty doorway. He appears to be feeling around for something, and after a couple moments retracts his arm back out of the mist. "Tahari's back door out of this place is hidden in this memory; I have triggered the sequence that will result in it opening. Look for a portal that will appear behind the throne she sits upon, that is where you need to go," Marouf says seriously. "If you do not find it quickly, the memory will play out and you will have to repeat it all over again. I wish you all luck in your endeavor, perhaps you will find a way to end Black Moon's evil once and for all."
As the dwarf speaks, his mind seems quite focused, as though recounting the tale has opened not only an unusually social aspect to the ranger seldom seen by others, but also granting him the patience he was seeking. Perhaps even good enough to beat the dragon...
Tahonikepsu becomes visibly distracted during this match, appearing to pay more attention to the storytelling than to the game itself. She occasionally makes requests for clarifications or embellishments on the dwarf's experiences, barely noticing the dwarf subtly whisking his pieces off the board. The dragon finally realizes that she is losing after the dwarf gets one or two pieces off. "Ssissithrax!" she curses in Draconic as she tries to catch up, causing the air around her to waver slightly with indignity. Radek wins the game in short order after that, leaving a very embarrassed Tahonikepsu to clean up the board. "That puts us at 1 to 1, Radek. It has been a little over a half hour, perhaps a tie breaker and then we attempt to rouse your friends?"
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Radek readily agrees to a tie-breaker, having grown somewhat fond of the game despite his usual reluctance for such pastimes. Too often, board games like these relied solely on intelligence to outwit one's opponent, but the dwarf has quickly learned that if one pays attention closely enough to the paths and potential movements of one's own tokens as well as the other's, victory can be achieved through perception and patience - traits that the ranger has utilized many a time. "Aye, that sounds like a plan. And if'n they come to while we're gamin', well, they'll just 'ave to wait a bit fer us to finish, eh? Ha!" Noting that the dragon seemed distracted by story-telling, Radek prompts her to talk as they play, asking her about her own adventures with the Pathfinder Society, and relating a few of his own as well - especially his most recent ones involving the Runelord cultists and his battle with Krune, the Runelord of Sloth.
"Aye, that sounds like a plan. And if'n they come to while we're gamin', well, they'll just 'ave to wait a bit fer us to finish, eh? Ha!" Noting that the dragon seemed distracted by story-telling, Radek prompts her to talk as they play, asking her about her own adventures with the Pathfinder Society, and relating a few of his own as well - especially his most recent ones involving the Runelord cultists and his battle with Krune, the Runelord of Sloth
Tahonikepsu seems much more focused this time around, splitting her attention more effectively than before. After a number of close turns, she manages to slip her last token off the board just before the dwarf and she takes the win. "A close match, Radek! After we finish the ritual, remind me when we get back to Merab and I will let you have one of my spare sets." The dragon looks back at the sleeping party members as her prestidigitation spell expires and the tokens change back into pebbles. "Let us wake your friends now and see what they have found."
She rises and moves to nudge Barnaby a couple times with her tail, but he does not awake. After several attempts both physical and verbal, presumably from Radek and Tiny as well, with no further success the dragon lets off an irritated snort. "Stand back, you two. I have an idea that might work." Regardless of whether or not the two comply, she begins rearing her head back and taking in a deep breath...
Back in the mindscape...
With his companions ready, Mr. Madison walks confidently and quickly into the memory.
The group collectively enters Building #5, entering a memory set in a receiving room with a throne looking down from a dais. Tahari sits upon the throne as several diplomats appeal to her for favors. During this time, the group looks around the room and the throne for the portal out of the demiplane, the people in the memory seeming to not notice at all. Strangely, no portal or any kind of exit appears anywhere to be seen; the memory plays out inexorably as Tahari unleashes a toxic gas cloud upon the room. Everyone becomes enveloped by the deadly mist as the room starts to fade from view.
The group stumble out of the memory coughing, everyone but Cassandra feeling oddly drained by the experience. Marouf is nowhere to be seen, though a deep and evil sounding laugh rings through the air of the mindscape. The laughter grows in volume, becoming almost unbearable as the very mindscape starts to waver and shift. The scene actually melts away, the fabric of actual reality reasserting itself as the Memory Extraction Chamber in the Material Plane comes back into view. The returning party members wake up to a very large dragon snoot exhaling a purple-tinted cinnamon scented mist in their faces, with a concerned looking Tiny and Radek nearby.
"Ah, you are awake! says Tahonikepsu as her dragon form blurs and changes to her smaller human shape. "Our initial attempts to rouse you weren't working, so I had to resort to some more...unorthodox...methods to wake you. Did you uncover anything useful?"
I apologize for this, but I lost track of how many negative levels this makes me. I think it's 3 now, but I'm not sure.
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Barnaby holds his head, just barely fighting off a massive migraine. Learn anything interesting? Learned that Tahari certainly likes her plagues. And is a sick genius: trapped her frelling memories with a div. Who in the Nine booby traps memories?
He looks to Tahonikepsu and Radek. How long were we in there?
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Radek nods at Tahonikepsu and grins. "I might take ye up on that offer. Good way te pass the time, an' I think I was gettin' the hang of it." The dwarf breathes a sigh of relief as the others are roused, but is careful not to let it show in his expression. When Barnaby asks his questions, Radek falls into his usual taciturn demeanor and shrugs, looking at the dragon. "Three games anyway. Yer the time dragon. If'n there's nuthin' more te be gained, let's 'ave a look at the room at the end o' the hall back there. Seems like the room might be the same as the one beyond the door I saw wit' the sliding peephole."
When the others are ready, and if they are of the same mind, Radek will lead the way to the door, watchful for traps and taking a long listen at the door before opening it up.
Feeling quite foggy Mr Madison exists in a bit of a daze. Do we still have that wand? I’m feeling quite unlike myself.
He looks to Tahonikepsu and Radek. How long were we in there?
"About an hour, or three rounds of senet," Tahonikepsu says with her patented sly half-smile. "I agree with Radek, let's move on an inspect this last room. We have a little more than an hour and a half. Then I can summon the other Sages here to perform the ritual back in Tahari's study."
When the others are ready, and if they are of the same mind, Radek will lead the way to the door, watchful for traps and taking a long listen at the door before opening it up.
The dwarf approaches the door once more, not noticing any traps; only the odd continuous dripping sound beyond the door. Cautiously opening it, it reveals a room with three tables laden with alchemical equipment, glassware, and other arcane tools. Collectively, gathering all of the equipment would constitute a full alchemist's lab. Amongst the tools, a sheaf of what appears to be notes of some kind sits surprisingly undamaged from the the passing of time. A thick liquid drips from a broken glass jar that never empties. Numerous marked vials that appear intact are enclosed within glass-fronted cabinets along the southern wall; it could be estimated that there might be about thirty to forty vials in total. A sealed metal canister sits in the southwest corner, which the dwarf with his keen eyes notes is marked with "#14."
Did that put me at 1 negative level or 0?
Cassandra will examine the vials and papers as best she can without touching them until the rest of the party has had a chance to look over the room.
The vials appear to be meticulously ordered in the cabinets, though they provide no additional insight into their contents beyond their simply numbered labels. The papers upon the tables appear interesting, but they are written in a language that is hard to read at the moment...
Radek moves toward the sealed metal canister, his eyes flickering about the room, watching for threats. He stops well short of the container and points toward it. "Hmph. Number fourteen. Were we lookin' fer this one?"
The metal canister looks incredibly well sealed, completely air-tight. There are actually several redundant seals and locks on the canister, very obviously indicating that either something important or very dangerous is kept inside.
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Radek moves toward the sealed metal canister, his eyes flickering about the room, watching for threats. He stops well short of the container and points toward it. "Hmph. Number fourteen. Were we lookin' fer this one?"
Tahari did seem to especially love it in one of her visions. Barnaby says to Radek, somewhat distractedly as he moves over with Cassandra to look at the notes on the worktable. Reading them, he frowns.
She kept experimenting, trying to make her 'work' better. The 14th trial was a failure for her: only a 90% fatality rate. [smaller]Cor![/smaller
He continues, jumping around. Some notes on punishing a div in the mind - great to know now - then a holy warrior of Osiris was captured. She seems especially pleased that the disease managed to affect him. But she also say, hold on... The detective fishes into his bag to bring out the notes from the library room in the other wing. She mentions some crystal byproduct seems to repel the disease. If that's the 'aether'...
Barnaby trails off lost in thought as he tries to make further sense of the notes.
Knowledge (Nature):
Barnaby and Cassandra put their heads together to decipher Tahari's notes, which they quickly discover descends into incredibly complex detail about the disease she was developing. The jargon that results is a bit beyond Cassandra's degree of expertise in the field, and Barnaby is only barely able to learn useful information thanks to a little bit of inspiration from his past experiences. The detective is able to translate a reasonable list of symptoms, disease progression, and other details that are useful for diagnosis. Barnaby is able to cross-reference this information with the previous records found in the Archive chambers, allowing a conclusion that Tahari did also develop a cure to this disease as well.
Furthermore, he also discovers Tahari theorizing that the crystal aether substance can be refined even further if two doses were combined; creating an incredibly powerful alchemical substance that she dubbed "The Blood of Nethys." If her theories are correct, this substance can be used as a material component for spellcasting to boost its power or even used to generate an area in a antimagic field where magic functions normally. Barnaby could attempt to practically prove this theory using the same checks mentioned above, consuming two doses of crystal aether in the process. This would take about 15 minutes to potentially make.
Finally, her notes absentmindedly documented her total stock of her crystal aether. You have collectively located enough crystal aether for 7 doses. Her notes also detail that one of the cabinets in the laboratory hold another canister of aether for additional 3 doses, for a complete stock of 10 doses all together. Tahari's procedure for generating crystal aether was wholly inethical, essentially sucking out the magical essence painstakingly slowly and lethally from thousands of villagers just to generate these 10 doses; recreating additional doses of aether is very unlikely.
Upon discovery of the symptoms and diagnosis of Fading Light, Radek's keen powers of observation and gruff disregard for an individual's fear of medical examinations allows him to determine if any party members happened to have contracted the disease while in the complex.
Radek: Normal
Psycho: Diseased
Barnaby: Diseased
Jing: Diseased
Tiny: Diseased
Mr. Madison: Somehow has naturally cleared Fading Light from his system
Cassandra: Somehow has contracted a magic-resistant incurable strain of Fading Light. You know that while it is possible for Fading Light to be cured with magic (i.e. Remove Disease), the strain Cassandra has CANNOT be cured by any kind of magic and will flare up violently each time it is attempted. The strain she has ignores any kind of disease immunity, even those innately or divinely-granted resistances (i.e. paladins). If she does not receive the alchemical cure discovered by Tahari before the complex collapses, she will never be free of Fading Light.
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When he learns of the deadly disease, Radek decides he might be able to identify those that have fallen to the strain, and the dwarf unabashedly pokes and prods his companions for a bit before standing back, rubbing at his beard. "All of ye 'ave this disease - 'cept fer meself an' Mr. Madison - who looks te have fought it off somehow. Might be ye picked it up in the Dreamscape ye all visited. Tha' means we'll need four doses, an' if we have 'nough fer seven in all..." Radek shrugs. "This Blood o' Nethys ye mention be requirin' two o' the last three, if'n yer of a mind te create it. That be leavin' only one dose."
The dwarf holds up one thick finger as if in emphasis. "If'n anyone contracts this Fadin' Light again after we dole out the cures... Well, then we'll be havin' only 'nough te cure one more. Somethin' te keep in mind."
GM, if we use this 'cure', would it prevent future outbreak in that character? My concern is we use four cures, and if we want to try creating this Blood of Nethys and someone else picks up the disease before the end of the adventure, we could be in serious trouble. Especially if it's more than one and we've only got a single cure left (instead of three). Of course, if it was picked up in the Dreamscape it's unlikely anyone else will be infected. I hope...
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Barnaby frowns as Radek confirms he's infected. There's the sages too. he adds grimly to Radek's count. If you think Tahonikepsu's clear, great. And Sinuhotep's dead, and Dhiara's probably good too. But Amenopheus and Torch might be hit with this too. That might be 7 right there. He looks to the others. Assuming I can make all these right and none of the crystl's wasted - and I'm good, but clearly not good enough to not get sick in the first place - that's only 3 spares. Think having one of the Blood's might make it worth cutting the margins down?
As he waits for them to respond, the detective starts moving to a clear space on the bench. either way, not sure how much time to waste. Any of you good with herbs of alchemy enough to feel confident chipping in?