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Wadi is glad he did not have to go swimming here. Best to put that off as much as possible.
He nods in agreement with Sutekh's plan before turning to face the half orc. "Relax Oloch. These fey seem harmless enough. No need to create trouble here where none exists."
"Not looking for trouble" - Oloch shrugs - "They have something that does not belong to them. Simple enough" - he adds - "What if they win this contest? What then?"
The Owl flaps his arms in excitement. "Whhhhooooo we betting on? Your diving guy?"
Meanwhile, Sutekh comes out from under the water a glorious, dripping hero, armed with not just one scroll case, but several.
"Told you he know fishing! How else he catch weird fish?" The Albatross notes triumphantly, forgetting for a moment that he lost the contest as he claps at Sutekh's giant catch. "Here's my New Fishy." He hands Sutekh the scroll he just caught. "You, oracle guy, hand him First Fishy!"
s we have heard, the worm's got by the bird
Who gets up so early a-dawnward,
But what of the bird who, deceased and interred,
Becomes food for the worm worming onward?
Meanwhile, Dioneo sees that there are magical scrolls all over the place, most of them in Sutekh's arms. The "First Fishy" appears to have been magical too, but its magic has mostly been expended. Traces of conjuration magic still cling to it.
The magical scrolls include:
- Comprehend Languages
- Bullstrength
- Daylight
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She clickd and chitters in excitement as she sees her friend and "dad" apparently won what ever they were doing
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When he was sure the scrolls were handed out, and they kept what was needed he turns to the fey,
"It has been quite fun facing off against the two of you. Let me give you a few tips about fishing..."
He goes to explain and teach them a few things. Just a few minutes of tips
He then stretches
"That was fun. But. We have to say goodbye. We have some things we need to take care of here. Once again. Good luck on your fishing exploits!"
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Both Gathlains chatter in Sylvan for a few minutes about Sutekh's fishing tips.
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"Whhhhoooo told you we weren't from here?" The Owl peers at Jan.
"They know fishing, Must be smart!" The Albatross turns to Jan, gesticulating wildly. "We travel scary journey here in belly of big sleeper. We just finish boat," he gestures at the overturned bookshelf on which he and his friend have been perched, "then some smarty-pants dog-cat splashed down into the fishin' hole, scarin' away the bestest fish!”
"Whhhooooo did he think he was?" The Owl says indignantly, then looks around nervously from side to side. "Maybe we shouldn't talk about big sleeper."
"Shhhh!" The Albatross glares at his friend. "Why you talking so loud about big sleeper? Might wake her up and she come eat us again!"
"What if she listening now?" Both terrified by and obsessed with the big sleeper, they cower and take turns hushing each other.
"Whhhhooo told you about the big sleeper?" Owl asks, peering over his shoulder.
At the same time Albratross says, "She's...." He looks to his friend. "How we describe... Oh! I know! She's like a fish!"
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"May I see those a moment", as his eyes begin to glow a tiny bit more than normal, allowing him to read the magic words locked within the page.
"Ah, I see, it was once a more complete scroll, but it currently holds a few spells still. Within it is the ability to read and understand all languages, a bit useless to us, but perhaps it will serve a purpose. There is also a prayer to gain physical might and to banish darkness." he says with a shrug.
"I really should have had the dolphin eat those two. At least Oloch would have backed me."
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Then maybe we have trouble, but I make side bet with you that Sutekh out fish the birds. Jan know fishing birds and those no fishers. What you say Oloch 5gp?
"I guess there is no point anymore" - the half orc snorts, looking at Sutekh when he emerges from the waters - "This is crazy..."
"The Big Sleeper? Who or what is that? " he asks puzzled
"A whale? Naaah..."
"Ah, I see, it was once a more complete scroll, but it currently holds a few spells still. Within it is the ability to read and understand all languages, a bit useless to us, but perhaps it will serve a purpose. There is also a prayer to gain physical might and to banish darkness." he says with a shrug.
"I really should have had the dolphin eat those two. At least Oloch would have backed me."
"Physical might? Good - it will give us an edge in case of need" - Oloch nods approvingly.
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Wadi looks over the scroll fragments trying to take his mind off the unpleasant feeling of the water on his lower legs. Being of a fiery heritage definitely had its disadvantages...
If I have to go swimming in this water I don't think I will make it through this...
"These scroll fragments have traces of conjuration magic lingering still." He looks to where the strange fey still lurk. "It cannot be a coincidence these fey had possession of the scroll fragment. Perhaps they were summoned by the same magic that Virml released. So we find more of these summoned creatures, then we find the scroll fragments. Those must be the key to perhaps undoing the curse!"
Tired of conversing with the Gathlains, you take your prize at the same time that you take your leave. As you patrol the floor, you hear the burbling of rushing water. A waterfall steadily flows off the mezzanine floor ten feet over your heads, then splashes as it hits the flooded stacks on your level.
A wrought iron staircase connects both this floor and the mezzanine above. Going up will make you all soaked by the spray, but the climb looks doable, if a little slippery.
As you reach the mezzanine, you see a man-sized orange fishlike creature with lovely colored scales and shimmering tentacles. She floats in the air over the mostly dry floor of the Mezzanine level, and from her mouth pours a steady stream of water. It looks like she's quite intent on the task, and she appears awake, but in an almost meditative state.
A grodair is intelligent, but extremely absentminded and careless. Its memory is poor, and it has difficulty remembering things it was told even 5 minutes prior—though it can recall some events of the distant past with perfect (and often frustrating) clarity.
Then she looks at all of you and pauses her deluge for a second to say something before returning to her task.
Oddly, the floor of the mezzanine level itself has very little water in it. Most of the water that falls here flows through the railing to the stacks below.
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"I do not think we have met. My name is Sutekh. My companion here is Serket. I will leave the rest to introduce themselves. What brings you here? And why are you flooding this place?"
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After using it, I'll try first to speak in Celestial, and then in the Common (Taldan) if that doesn't work.
"I imagine you would remember us, my friend, and certain we would remember you, so it is doubtful."
"Greetings, sister. I am Archon and we are members of an organization, the Pathfinder Society, that aims to learn all that we can about the past. We where told that someone had misused magic here, causing a flood that risks ruining a collection of knowledge many of us have fought hard to gain, and we just wish to prevent as much damage to this library as we can."
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Turning to speak over his shoulder at his companions, "This creature, a rare oddity of the so-called first world. We call them Grodair. They have terrible short term memory, but phenomenal long term memory, able to recite and recall things from ages past without error, but probably would not know us from his or her own mother. Within their bellies, it's almost like a bunch of bag of holdings. They can store a huge amount of water, far, far beyond what one would think on first glance, and spew it forth like a fountain for hours without pause. Luckily, they can also suck all that water back in, too."
The Grodair blinks, and stops spewing water for a few minutes as she listens to you.
"You are a polite set of creatures, aren't you?" The Grodair's voice, while speaking sylvan, sounds like an odd mix of burbling water and fussy school marm. She appears to have no reaction to the celestial or taldan tongues. However, she seems pleased by your words, once Sutekh translates them. "I am Mistress Koi. Did I travel here alone? Of course not. Others rode with me, including Whatshisname, that dreadful, haughty fox."
"Oh, the fox!" Her eyes widen as she remembers. "I have to stop him! Excuse me!" She turns back and starts spewing water.
"You'll catch the fox for me?" Mistress Koi stops spewing water for a moment to look Jan in the eyes. "He's... what was his name? He's a dreadful, tricksy creature that sways people with his words. I was flooding the place to force him out of hiding. Otherwise he'll get away and cause all kinds of trouble! Are you sure you're up for it?"
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"A tricky Fox and a Charming, handsom man. Sound like we might have a Kitsune on our hands."
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"Huh... Mistress Koi was flooding the place to force the fox out of hiding" - Oloch reasons, turning to the strange creature - "As you have attested, we are willing to help in finding it, but if the water continues to rise, it will not be easy for us" - he shrugs - "Perhaps the flooding could stop for the time being?"
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"A kitsune, yes!" Mistress Koi turns to Archon. "A tricksy, proud one, far more powerful than normal!" She turns to Oloch. "What kind of trouble can a fox cause? This one tricked a wish from a Djinn and then not content with that, he challenged the Fey Riddler to a riddle contest in which all his riddles insulted his hosts! Each layer of riddle was designed to be an increasing insult, the further in as you solved it."
"They were clever riddles, and well-constructed, so the Riddler awarded him both his prize and his punishment in one. She created me and the other denizens of the Name of the Fox to both imprison and immortalize that fox... What was his name?" Tears begin sliding down Mistress Koi's cheeks. "I was supposed to be the responsible one. The one who kept watch. But the fox is an endlessly deceitful charmer, and he outwitted me with some fiendishly clever magical ruse, and now he runs riot in the vaults below!"
When you ask that she remove the water, she shakes her head from side to side. "I lived for centuries in a scroll with one of the most epic liars seen in at least two different planes of existence. I won't remove the waters until you can bring me all the fragments of the fox's prison and the fox himself alive."
"Do you promise to do so..." she pauses and peers at all of you. "I'm sorry. What were your names again?"
"This is your library. Don't you know the way down? How will you find the fox if you can't navigate?"
She peers over the edge, and you do too. The same metal staircase you climbed must descend into a sub-basement below as well, for the water there burbles downward in a dark, lazy whirlpool. She points a tentacle. "I'd look there."
Then she peers at you quizzically. "I'm sorry. We appear to be conversing. Have we met before?"
"Are you a fox?" Mistress Koi pokes an interested tentacle at Wadi. Poke. Poke. Her tentacles droop with disappointment. "Not a fox!"
With Mistress Koi's solemn promise to not keep flooding the place while you search (so long as she remembers) you descend the slippery stairs into the understacks in the sub-basement.
Flooding from the library above has turned this storage chamber into a treacherous bog. Rising above the black lake, the flat tops of many rows of shelves create a makeshift maze of causeways. A spiral staircase descends from above, a deluge of water cascading down the steps. Four narrow corridors channel rivers of seawater off into the darkness.
The room is unlit. What are those of you without darkvision using for light sources? How are you traveling through the room? On the shelves, or wading through the deep water? Or swimming? You can swim, if you like...
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Wadi jumps in surprise at the pokes from Mistress Koi. "I am NOT a fox...well at least not in the open..."
As the party descends down the stairs Wadi considers using his precious Wayfinder for light but the thought of dropping it in the deep water is more than enough a deterrent. Instead he casts a simple light cantrip on his club.
He takes position on one of the shelves as he peers around cautiously. "Do you guys see anything?"
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Sutekh will now stay at the back with Serket. The two will help each other out if the need arises
"A Kitsune. Fey riddles. A flood. This sure is a different hole we got ourselves into this time, isnt it Serket? " he chuckles
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The scorpion chitters and splashes around a bit. This was great for her. No mud. No muck. New and exciting. She liked this
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