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Kennald helps drag the bodies out to the corridor so that they can search more efficiently, passing several of the CLW potions to Dagki. As he does so he looks down at the papers that the Agent he was dragging was looking at.
"Ah! What have we here?"
He looks over the documents for a moment before offering them around.
"Are these the ones we're looking for?"
The table at the center of this rectangular room is completely contained within a rune-inscribed circle set into the floor. Atop the table lies a Kelishite man’s body, spread-eagled and bloodstained. At the far end of the chamber hangs a ragged tapestry torn down its center. A peaceful wood with trampled undergrowth is visible through the tear, though the tapestry clearly hangs against a solid wall.
Within the chamber are four more of the Owl Men. They are definitely different ones that those before...and they are laughing as they prod the dead body...that appears to be Aram Zey.
Pathfinders up
Dagki rushes in and able to land a very telling blow. The axe shredding through feathers and flesh alike.
Bjarke is lucky to have caught the creature he strikes offguard...as he thinks it's poor reaction time allowed the axe to strike true. And true it did. The owl-man dropped in a pile of blood and feathers.
Usually...an owl can twist their heads much further than expected...this was not one of those cases as the creature's head spun on it's neck and a brutal crack was heard as it slumped...very, very dead.
Aiming at light blue not in combat with anything yet, when i posted.
Scarlet moves in after.
The arrow finds it's mark, but the target still stands!
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Kennald moves up to stand protectively over Aram Zey's body and takes a swipe at one of the remaining birdmen, however he appears distracted by the fall of the Master beneath his feet.
"Several of your countrymen had the opportunity to discuss things peacefully earlier tonight, they were sent off with well wishes and maps. Fortunate for them that we didn't find you first, murdering a respected Scholar. While we are not the Dishonarable Ones you were told, we find murder and disrespect of the dead to be Dishonorable in turn. Especially when the dead is one that has earned Great Honor."
He continues to glower angrily at the Owlmen, and looks for another window to strike.
"This is the Great Jailor. Master of the Tapestry. We did not kill him...but are none too upset he is dead...just as you will be!"
With that, the purple owl-man takes to the air and flies back over the table only to seem to concentrate on something...and double! Now two owl-men seem to blur together, in and out of one another.
The other takes to the air and gives Ciro a swat with his quarterstaff.
But the feathered menace comes up short with his strike.
PATHFINDERS!
Sago swings past the illusion and blood begins to flow quickly as the creature falls hard from the air to the ground.
Kennald moves over to the remaining owl-man and prevents him from swinging again...blood and feathers everywhere.
The combat's sounds fall into silence and the group is left in a room with many bleeding owl-men...and one seemingly very dead Master of Spells. The Tapestry, which the Society has had for almost three and a half years is in tatters, and the person best suited to repair is dead, however, the Tapestry is still opened, but with the notes the group has acquired...there is hope to shut it down.
You take ten minutes to do.
This tall library is ringed by a walkway around its perimeter, which provides access to a second level of towering bookshelves. A broad Qadiran rug leads to a short pedestal within a tall glass case that itself sits within an inscribed circle—all cordoned off by a velvet rope suspended by brass poles. Several plush chairs and a few low tables bearing curios line the lower floor, and two decorative suits of armor stand at attention, each with a crossbow resting against its
shoulder. Heatless torches blaze with remarkably even light in sconces throughout the room, and a tall pendulum clock against the eastern wall ticks each passing second as its hands move erratically.
Both men who enter are hit with a wave of nausea that they both fight off, but as they move into the room, there seems to be a flash and then a playback from recent past. It is clearly not solid or real, but based on knowing that the Sky Key has some temporal abilities, it is likely because of this that a ghostly image of a Pathfinder appears in the center of the room, where his likeness eerily begins to slide through the
display case. His voice echoes as he speaks to an unseen party. “Oh no, they’ve stolen the Sky Key. It also appears they disrupted the auxiliary stabilizer, too.” He pauses before continuing. “Do you feel that? I feel kind of sick all of a sudden. I hope they didn’t try to disassemble it—or worse, bring it too close to the tapestry. Wasn’t that why Zey kept them so far—” The figure’s words go unfinished as he begins to scream and dissolve, fading from view in a matter of seconds.
While the Sky Key is not here, there is clearly some residuals... and as the scene fades away, creatures seem to fade into existence and attack.
Pathfinders are up
These are some sort of Ectoplasmic Undead. The most important things to note about them are their ability to stay aloft and the fact that only slashing weapons seem to do full damage to them.
Kennald thinks hard about what he is looking at and it is right on the edge of his understanding, so instead he just slams his spear forward. As he does, he feels like his weapon isn't quite as effective as it should be...but it is good enough and the creature drops.
Dagki rushes over and his axe cuts through the creature like a hot knife through butter, destroying any semblance of humanity it had previously. It falls into a couple of piles.
Kreighton Shaine finishes giving instructions to one team before sending them into Arliss Hall and turning to greet the new arrivals. “Ah, you received my message?” he asks eagerly while pulling out a small notepad and making a single tally mark. “Excellent, I was uncertain whether recent events might block communication as well. We have a theory that the northwest tower’s new floating status may be the result of the Sky Key and Hao Jin Tapestry coming too close to one another, much like two extradimensional spaces placed inside one another. Thus far, all of our more conventional attempts to reach the tower have been repelled, and admittedly the whole thing could just rocket into the Irorium any minute.” He squints to the north before adding, “That would be unfortunate, as there’s a rather big match over there today. Best we take control of the tower
before it misbehaves further. The good news is that we have a permanent portal to that section of the tower. Since the link is between two objects—a pair of full-length mirrors—it should be stable and safe to use. The only catch is that one of the mirrors is inside Arliss Hall. The hall has several extradimensional properties, and with so many visitors, it’s been changing its internal layout constantly. Rather than waste time sending you to figure out a puzzle, I’ll lead you to the portal myself. We venture-captains are fairly used to it.”
Kreighton Shane walks to the door and opens it and waves them in. Once they step in, he follows and as they turn around to hear further instructions...he is gone.
“Of all the luck,” the Master of Scrolls voice echoes from thin air. “We must have exceeded some capacity limit for this version of the hall and it moved me over to another… iteration of itself. I’ll try to find my way over to you, but look for the mirror! It is in a private room that is reserved. We call it the Lost Room. The chamber will be hidden in plain sight but there’s always some sort of trick to find it. Hurry and I’ll try to join you soon! One last thing—rarely can anyone find the Lost Room alone, so
work together!”
*Each of you has visited Arliss Hall enough to be familiar with the layout, hence the entire map is open to you.
*Private rooms are on the second floor (they are marked on the map)
*The room registry is at the front. There are 9 rooms registered...1-8 with an addition room listed as 8A. The last is marked Reserved-Do Not Use. At the top of each room's page is written: Arliss Hall values your privacy. Simply lock your door and you will see to it you are not disturbed.
*Room 8 is currently reserved by Osprey.
Ciro and scarlet follow, Not to worry, if it's lost scarlet and i can find it
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"I only remember 8 rooms too.... and I DO remember there being more than 5 people in Arliss Tower at a time... I'm going to take a look!"
Kennald knocks on, and attempts to open each door in turn, peering in, looking for anyone, or any other clues as to how to find the 9th door, in an 8 door hallway.
Some of the doors are locked, but F8 is sitting opened. Kennald does notice that each room that is not locked has a key on the inside of the door.
Upon attempted to smash the door opened, Bjarke is thrown back as if there is a magical enchantment protecting the door from tampering.
The ledger made it seem as if the ninth room was a sub-room of 8.
The room looks standard. Your eyes keep moving to the key still in the door despite it being assigned to Osprey.
As soon as Dagki turns the key, those outside the room hear a click and it looks like the door is unlocked. Before anyone can react, however, the door seems somehow unlock again and Dagki reopens it.
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Having watched the interaction from the inside, and seeing nothing happen, Kennald steps outside room 8, and turns back to Dagki, still inside.
"I don't think you are too far from the truth Dagki. Can you try locking it again from the inside? I promise to try not to take too long, I just want to see how it looks from the outside."