The energies of the rip in the fabric of reality crackle, as physical space morphs around where the Sky Key once stood.
In the hall, a passing Pathfinder waves to you. "We've been ordered to muster at Arliss Hall. All Pathfinders not engaged with Aspis are to assemble!"
|
Evarice fiddles her piccolo as Apollyanna and Prisim discuss titles.
Wh-what are these women talking about? Not even Uncle Darien is this creative. Well, he keeps calling himself "Mr. Tuxedo" and throws roses at his foes. But...
"You'll...have to show that to me some time. I'm not familiar with it."
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"It's your wand" explains Prisim.
"And 'mystical nightshirt of invulnerability' worked! I'd love to have a mystical nightshirt of invulnerability. Might held keep some of those boys at bay. Honestly, young gnome boys, all they want to do is tinker with machines, brew beer, and then try tinkering with us girls."
She shakes her head. "I can only assume that humans are a little more restrained." she pauses to think for a moment.. "But given how many of you there are..."
|
|
"You'll...have to show that to me some time. I'm not familiar with it."
"Huh?" Apollyanna says taken by surprise and completely unprepared. She grins sheepishly, her hand on the back of her head, a bead of sweat developing on one temple. "Yeah, sure. Heh." Hopefully I'll get time to practice first. Heheh.
|
|
"And 'mystical nightshirt of invulnerability' worked! I'd love to have a mystical nightshirt of invulnerability. Might held keep some of those boys at bay. Honestly, young gnome boys, all they want to do is tinker with machines, brew beer, and then try tinkering with us girls."
She shakes her head. "I can only assume that humans are a little more restrained." she pauses to think for a moment.. "But given how many of you there are..."
"'Young gnome boys'? You mean they all grow up to be like Doctor Scalawag that creepy perv? He's almost as bad as Venture Captain Roshi."
|
|
"Apparently so." nods Prisim in full seriousness.
"Although to be fair, not quite as much 'up' as you humans. I mean gnomes boys would need to stand one on top of another to even get close. "
She pauses for a moment to visualize a pyramid of gnomeish boys and then visualizes the one on top trying to kiss Apollyanna. and then the ones underneath moving because they wanted to be on top, and then the whole pyramid falling down.
Within moments she is rolling on the floor laughing, and its probably not too apparent why.
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 enter through 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.”
Of course, you recall that Aram Zey is dead, as you found his body on display in the Tapestry room.
You hurry to Arliss Hall, and join the other Pathfinders milling around.
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 extra-dimensional 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 gure out a puzzle, I’ll lead you to the portal myself. We venture-captains are fairly used to it.”
The Hall adjusts occasionally to accommodate the needs of its occupants. 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 there are also 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 once the door is closed, 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!”
As you inspect your surroundings, you find the rooms are up on the second floor, and circle the grand lobby. You find a guest registry in the lobby. Currently the registry lists nine rooms, including both "room 8" and "room 8A", even though no such room appears to exist.
As you examine the registry, you see 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.”
|
|
"That's it!" says Prisim. "The room is reserved."
At the words of Pau she looks surprised "That is 8, we want 8A. Unless of course you need to go though 8 to get to 8a..."
She looks up the human sized stairs and with a sigh starts to climb.
"Lets go have a look."
Once there she sighs "Hmm, no 8a.. or maybe that is the tower. Hey, bring the book up with you, lets see if there is a 4a as well." she calls back downstairs.
She looks at the door expectantly. "Yerpos!" she calls out blushing a little "My cousins used to call me Miss Rip. Something to do with falling over a curtain when I was little. That and they weren't too good at spelling."
|
|
"Room 8A? Then let's go! Why are we looking around here so much?"
Gailen seems impatient. You've noticed that during this adventure, she seems to be becoming slightly unhinged, not able to deal with the stress of battle (especially when she does poorly at combats). Perhaps she has some sort of stress disorder?
The garden can be accessed from any of the windows.
There are no spare keys near the registry.
It is easy to find room 8, but there is not room marked 8A that you can see. You stand in the hallway outside of room 8. The door is closed.
The door opens. You don't see anyone inside.
You hear nothing in response.
Room 8 is sufficiently furnished, with a made bed, a small dresser, and a full-length mirror in the corner. Everything looks quite as it should.
The mirror must be bent in a funny way, because Prisim's reflection looks a bit short. Otherwise, the mirror looks normal.
Now that Prisim and Evarice have entered the room, they are able to see there is a key in the lock on the inside of the door.
The room is nicely lit from the window, and the mirror helps spread the ambient light around the room. The rug in the center is warm and inviting, and it really helps to tie the room together. There is an old bowling trophy on a shelf in the corner.
The bowling trophy reads "Dude Lebowski". It, along with the rug, really ties the room together. It is otherwise unremarkable.
Once Prisim and Evarice invite everyone in the room, they lock the door from the inside. It clicks pleasantly, as one might expect from a nice lock.
Evarice manipulates the mirror, both before and after everyone is in the room. It responds much the way a mirror should.
The sun is warm through the window, and you can still hear the sounds of grounds under siege.
|
|
“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 gure out a puzzle, I’ll lead you to the portal myself. We venture-captains are fairly used to it.”
“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!”
Evarice recalls the Master of Scrolls' words. "Hmm. This must be the mirror, but... I'm missing something."
Prisim sees everyone she should, and no one she shouldn't. She pokes and prods the mirror, to no avail. She sees the reflection of all six party members inside the locked room, just as she would expect from a mundane mirror.