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The voice of the Master of Scrolls Kreighton Shaine travels down the halls, carried by a magical breeze. “Pathfinders, we have determined that objectives in Skyreach are now secure and most Aspis Consortium forces within have been neutralized. There have been further developments of which you may or may not already be aware. Aspis agents have made off with the Sky Key and seem to be holding out in the tower floating above our lodge. Our early experiments with teleporting in or flying to it have met with no success, so I am gathering our forces to enterthrough Arliss Hall, which has a permanent gateway to one of the tower’s rooms.
“The gateway is finicky, though. Our Master of Spells Aram Zey would be better able to explain it than I, but he is currently—” The elf trails off as though searching for the right word before continuing, “—indisposed due to the Consortium’s attack. Finish your business and gather outside Arliss Hall for the final assault. I shall guide you from there.”
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The team makes it to Arliss Hall, where they meet the Master of Scrolls.
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.”
As Pathfinders, you know some basic information about Arliss Hall. Its passageways are known to shift in strange ways, and it often seems larger inside that it should from the outside. The majority of the rooms inside are modest but tasteful apartments that venture-captains (and maybe even the Decemvirate) use as personal apartments.
Kreighton Shaine opens the door for you and follows you inside; however, when you turn around, the elf has disappeared.
“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!”
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Rravn holds his head. Apparently all this extradimensional stuff at work is messing up with his temporal affinity. His eyes shift colors rapidly before setting into an enigmatic rainbow coloration. The tengu's voice now echoes by itself, as if replaying a choir of children, men, and women.
"We are in different times, yet it is the same. No other time holds the same. Room is in every time, but not in a single one. Two perspectives are needed, from one to see, from one to use."
After that Rravn dashes off to the second floor and turns right. "Hidden in plain sight, appearing only when you blink. Close your eyes and you'll see the room."
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Near the front door, you do see a guest registry identifying which rooms are available. Currently the registry lists nine rooms, including both room 8 and “room 8A”, even though no such room appears to exist. Room 8 is currently registered to the Pathfinder agent Osprey, while Room 8A is marked “Reserved— do not use.” At the top of the page are words written in delicate penmanship and red ink. “Arliss Hall values your privacy. Simply lock your door and we will see to it that you are not disturbed.”
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"Blast our luck!", exclaims Pip while pounding one fist inside her other hand. "We're finally ready to stop the Aspis from getting out with the Sky Key, and we're twarted by some mysterious limit? To find the mirror with nothing but a few vague hints?" She sighs, trying to find the positive. "Well, Mr. Sheine said we'd have to work together, and we've shown that we can do that..."
She looks over the registry. "8A is marked reserved. That is what the Master of Scrolls mentioned. 'The mirror would be in a private room that is reserved. So it has to be room 8A. Right?"
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Dekion shakes his head again. "I certainly have had enough of magic today. Has caused us nothing but problems." He listens to what Pip has found in the registry. "Seems as good a place as any to start. It certainly makes sense, it will just be a matter of finding it in this maze. Looks like we head upstairs from here," he says looking around the room. He then follows Rravn.
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"Bah! Riddles. Can't stand them. Well I will go with the group consensus, but I wonder if there is a clue somewhere in this ledger. Sadly I do not posses the skill to distinguish different writing styles."
Frustrated by his lack of useful abilities, Durothil keeps an eye out for any potential trouble.
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"Judging from Master Shane's words, the room is not easy to find. But let's go see. Perhaps Mr. Osprey is at home, and would know of the room '8A'. Would the note in red mean that once the door is locked, it disappears from sight?"
Drusilla expends a charge from her wand of Heightened Awareness on herself, and offers the same spell for anyone interested. Then she heads off to search first the room '8', and hoping to find the '8A' nearby.
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"Magic to increase our wits? I suppose we could use all the help we can get," says Pip while standing ready to receive the spell.
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Pip follows Drusilla into room 8. "Well, there's no room 8A apparent. But I guess that that's the whole objective of this puzzle." She sticks her head around the door. "Dekion, Brokhan, can you stick around here? I'd like to try closing the door from the inside. Please notice what happens on the outside."
Pip then closes the door, and turns the key to lock it.
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"That scroll guy - you know the one that isn't quite as good looking as me, he said something about a mirror, and working together. Doesn't that mean we all stick together?
"What if you in that room open the door and you are in a different place. How do we get to you? Bah! This is not my forte. Just want to crack a few more Aspis over the head and call it a day."
Realizing that his help is not entirely helpful, Durothil makes himself available to assist the team in any way possible.
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Pip hustles into the room, making sure the Drusilla and Rravn are with her, and that Brokhan, Dekion and Durothil are outside. She gives them some final instructions before closing the door. "I'll lock the door in ten seconds. Please pay close attention to what happens. Try knocking, opening the door, anything you can think of. OK?"
Pip closes the door. "Ready?" she asks Drusilla and Rravn when she reaches for the key.
She shouts through the door: "I'm locking it now." And with that, she turns the key.
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Pip visibly counts out to two minutes in her head, impatient as she is. "Well, what's taking them? They would have knocked by now shouldn't they? That must mean that some magic is at work here."
Pip tries to take the key from the door, sliding it into a pocket. "Now, what if we try this." Pip pulls a roll of thieving tools from her backpack and gets to work on trying to get the door open without the key.
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Not really understanding, Pip nevertheless complies with Rravn's instructions. She tries to open the door, despite the fact that she knows it to be locked.
-Posted with Wayfinder
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If that doesn't work, she puts the key back in the lock, then unlocks and opens the door. "I wonder if we'll still find the others outside."
-Posted with Wayfinder
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The team realizes (partially by yelling through the walls and windows) that the rooms 8 and 8A are co-located, and the door only services one of them at a time. You've found mirror that you'll need to go through, but the problem is (through experimentation) you realize that someone needs to be in room 8 to lock the door to give access to room 8A.
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"Well, I've been doing silly things all day. One more couldn't hurt." Pip makes sure she's the only one in room 8, locks the door behind her, and then opens the window. Yikes.
She mutters a quick prayer before stepping through the window, and climbs to one of the other windows to get back to the hallway.
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Pip keeps trying the door until it opens (which is does, coincidentally, when those outside close the door to 8A. She shoos the others out, locks the door, and climbs out the window. She runs back through the hall to find the others filing into room 8A. The team all passes through the mirror.
The southeast corner of this room has broken off along with part of the floor. Rubble, loose bricks, and masonry litter the edges. Beyond the opening, blue sky and the Absalom’s city skyline are plainly visible. A solitary door is closed to the south and a full length mirror is bolted to northwest wall. When you all arrive, Lady BroKhan is standing there, looking over the edge, waiting for you. She tells you that she tried the door, and it is stuck. She has not tried to force it yet, rather she waited for you all.