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Onyo stands in the doorway for a moment, letting out a rare remark of devotion. "By the Eye..."
He stumbles forward, a slow shuffle turning into a barely concealed sprint as he heads towards the shelves. Pulling a book at random, he reads it furiously.
...lish opera singer best known for his performance of the Mwangi aria, Derimus rose to a significant...
Feh, music. Onyo quickly grabs another.
...ombining Lucene's second theorem with the research of the mostly obscure 'Raven Author', Jermian developed a new technique that would concealment falsehoods while only require a second valence expenditure of energy. It should be readily apparent tha....
NO! Onyo wrests himself away from his book, throwing it forcefully on the ground beside him. Immediately crouching down to frantically retrieve it and fan smooth any wrinkles he caused, the arcanist looks around at the stacks surrounding him.
"So many volumes. Could spend a lifetime in here. But no: must prioritize. Remember, texts about the Crusade and the Tyrant needed."
Trying to live up to his own advice, Onyo roams the stacks searching for titles that might bear on their task.
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Tatiana listens carefully to Onyo’s personal rant. With only a few moments of close observation, she realizes the Wayang’s rant is highly enlightened. Watching the clever alchemist and his methods, she starts commenting on historical accounts that she can remember, then begins looking through books related to history.
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As some of the investigators moved into room and started searching, it become easier to see lots of different books located in here.
Scenario contains a specific set of rules to determine, how search is going on.
Search time is based on size of the room. More characters are searching in one room, sooner they can conclude about search results.
Any researching character should make a skill check against Room DC to determine result.
Highest result is used. Other results, beating Room DC, are counted as giving researching character an assist.
Results lower than Room DC are not counted.
Usable skills are:
* Linguistics
* Knowledge(history)
* Craft(bookbinding)
* Profession(librarian)
Other skills might be used with corresponding penalty:
-2: Craft(caligraphy), Profession(scribe) - this skill is book related, but not directly helpful
-3: Appraise, Knowledge (other than history) - some crossreferences could be useful in locating books
-4: Pure ability check - in case you have any mentioned skills trained at all
-5: Spellcraft, Perception, Sence Motive - they are less related to research, but more on chance on detect something specific
Skills based on STR, DEX or CHA are unusable for researching.
Some rooms are specific and other research skills might be used.
As an example, if there is a room about heraldry - Knowledge (nobility) have no penalty; room about art - art-related Crafts or Profession (art critique) have no penalty; and so on.
This section is duplicated in Campaign Tab.
While searching, Pathfinders brought more light in a room and found that there was an immense lion’s head carved from the southern wall. As Onyo walked between bookshelves, he suddenly detected, that figure's eye is following his steps.
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As Onyo reaches for the next book in fornt of him, he pauses as he feels the weight of someone watching him. Slowly pulling the book towards him, he watches the mounted bust's eyes appear to track him as he moves.
A frown splits his dark cheeks as his head drops to pore over this new text. Carefully opening its pages, he calls out to his partners as they spill into the library chamber. "Statue in the south appears to be observing us. Could be decorative illusion for gravitas. Or could be sensor, alerting others as we speak. Either way, very distracting. Disruptive to work. Appreciated if you could handle it."
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Odmar walks into the room. He frowns a bit, after hearing Onyos comment.
"That's not good. I'll try to do something"
He tries to sneak to the statue by leaning to the wall, hoping that statues eyes don't move that far to the side.
When at the statues, he studies this statue a bit, then he takes off his cloak and puts it on the lions head to cover his eyes.
After that is done, he returns to his companions and tries to help with the search.
"Here you go, Onyo. Nothing should distract you now"
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Odmar walks into the room. He frowns a bit, after hearing Onyos comment.
”That's not good. I'll try to do something”
He tries to sneak to the statue by leaning to the wall, hoping that statues eyes don't move that far to the side.
As Odmar approached to statue, he heard a deep loud voice: “Are you a Lion Blade?”
Statue seems to be a solid object, part of wall and human could not see, how it’s carved eyes could be moving. As well, he could not see, how it could be talking being made from stone
Odmar looks around “And who is asking?”
“I am the Guardian of Lion Blade Archive! Please, name yourselves and your purpose or I will raise an alarm” sound was coming from Lion statue directly.
”That's not very hospitable of you. Me and my friends are here to study some history. Isn't that what libraries are for? We will just read some books and we will leave afterwards, if you don't mind. Maybe you have a name, guardian?”
“Call me the Guardian. Does any of your friends belongs to Lion Blades?”
Odmar stopped for a moment to think, what does he knows about Lion Blades and then come with an answer:
“Hah! If some of us were a Lions Blade, noone would say that in front of others out loud. Don't you agree? And, on the other hand, if we weren't, how would we find this archive?"
Lion looked satisfied with his answer: “You sound reasonable, young guest. Could you please, share some latest news with me… My old ears catch a music from upstairs, what is happening there?”
“Ah there is a big concert going on upstairs. The greatest bards of this city are competing in their arts and the whole city came to see. There is a lot going on up there. Tell me guardian, may be you want to know news on any specific subject?”
“Why they decided to do this competition today?! I would like to hear anything interesting. I am a keeper of the history and I feel I would like to hear about great achievements of Taldor nation in last decade to fill the gaps.”
Odmar found, where were the hook hidden in Lion’s question.
“Why? It's a celebration of the Grand Princes birthday! As for the other Taldor doings. Well, The Prince still tries to reclaim rogue lands, no major wars though. The taxes on selling Taldor relics went up. Taldor tries to preserve its heritage that way, I guess.”
“Oh, good! May be you have something more to share with me? You and your friends can use library as long as this is for a noble purpose.”
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Guardian, I am looking for information on the Crusade and the Tyrant. Where would be the best place to look? Tatiana moves a few books over to the table closest to the guardian, and then begins looking through them as she casually talks with the guardian.
Guardian, what services do you provide as the guardian of this place?
How long have you been here and haw did you come to be the guardian?
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Hello, lady! said Lion's voice, would you be so kind, to say your name, so I could use it talking directly to you? There are lots of historical books in our library. Most of them are here, but some of them are in other rooms. Probably, you are referencing the "Generals' Logbooks" a collection of journals, recorded by several generals, that were leading taldan warriors into the battle.
Suddenly, his voice changes and become more quiet. It sometimes interrupted with some quiet background noise, that resembles crowd cheering. A figures of several taldan noble men and women appear in dark corner of the room.
"In year 3754 of Absalom Reckoning, Taldor sought to oust the Whispering Tyrant, giving rise to the drawn out conflict that became known as the Shining Crusade. Several noble generals were leading numerous warriors, that aided by dwarves from Sky Citadel of Kraggodan and Knights of Ozem. Ustalavan town of Vellumis become a frontier. One of the leaders of the Taldan armies was the mortal woman Iomedae, who lead the Knights of Ozem."
Lady in shining full plate stepped out of the dark, made a short bow and disappeared.
Lion continued short interactive lecture, naming several persons and outlining some interest facts about their life. After he finished, he asked:
"Now you understand major purpouse of me being here all my life?"
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Using the guardian’s recommendation, Tatiana attempts to collect the books that were referenced. Seeing you have been so helpful Mr. Guardian, you can call me Tat.
After collecting the books, Tatiana sits back down and begins looking through them. It sounds like the grand princes birthday performance is going well. Would there be any other rooms in the library that would have more information on the subject?
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"Very generous of you, Tat! Than you can call me Glory..." statue laughed with his deep voice. "There are several other rooms: administrator's, classroom, study... You see, I heard about them, not seen actually. Kind of bound to this place. Sometimes young Lion Blades take books there for their research."
He stopped for a moment and answered dwarf's question: "Are you willing to use Lion Blade's knowledge to crack some code? Even if I knew, I would not help you, unless you can swear, that you are a Lion Blade".
The rest of dialog was ruined, because of loud music started in performance hall.
First research and that one was successful.
First of the lucky guys was Onyo, who found out a pack of hand-written notes, that fell from one of the books he discovered.
Than Honk brought out a hidden gem as a page of some catalogue, prepared for someone.
Aramil discovered an exciting read among other works stored in a library.
Meanwhile, Odmar found that this library is full of interesting stuff. Except speaking intelligent carved lion, some of bookshelves were providing him magical assistance.
Flash had found nothing, because he was constantly switching between looking for history books and books about cyphers. Tatjana was quickly reading through some works, but suddenly a loud music started. It was hard to concentrate for her, person that was raised with a taste for good performance.
This active part starts around 15 minute of performance. There are will be couple more parts like that during performance. One somewhere in the middle of performance and another one closer to end.
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Lion hesitated a bit and then admit: "As I am not the librarian here, but more a wise councillor, I just watch how people come and go. Sometimes young Lion Blades take book or two for their research in classroom or study and do not return, sometimes book need to be repaired and is taken by caretaker, who lives beyond. As well, sometimes administrator takes some books away to verify some of his works. He even keeps some valuable books locked elsewhere."
The Lion Blades does not officially exist, but they rumoured to be a secret organization committed to protecting the interests of Taldor and its ruler, the Grand Prince. They oppose the enemies of the empire through infiltration, assassination, and espionage and prefer crowded urban areas because are masters of motion within the crowd. They are also quick, agile, knowledgeable, and masters of disguise. Its members serve Taldor from the shadows without moral considerations. In regards to domestic enemies, one of their tasks is to keep a rein on corruption as well as keep any one faction of the imperial court from becoming a threat to Grand Prince Stavian III.
Guardian responded to Tatiana's question promptly and quickly:
"There is no dangers I'm aware of in the Kitharodian Academy, one of the main Lion Blade's training premises. Several guards are usually taking their rest in rooms above this floor and ready to arrive if something will happen..." He paused for a bit, and bard felt he had squinted "...unless you are not willing to meet them. Tell me more about that interesting banner you have with you."
Aramil found a moment, when other pathfinders were far from him and started to whisper to a statue:
"Noble sentinel, as we speak, a patriot of Taldor is raising an independent army to march to the Worldwound and reignite the glory that Taldor once commanded. All goes well, but the demons act more quickly than Taldor can recruit. They require something—some kind of holy relic or the like—that the noble and the brave can rally behind. If you know of some such relic, please tell me what you can about it. The glory of Taldor and the lives of many of it's soldiers may be at stake."
Statue responded with his normal voice and he felt a note of surprise in Guardian's words:
"I don't see, why you speak of noble purpose via whisper. If you really want to achieve a greatness, you should be not afraid to speak about that keeping you back straight and head up"
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Well Glory, this banner represents our group. It helps raise moral and gives the group a point of focus in combat. In all it is a center point for everyone.
Tatiana continues to talk to the animated lion head. She shares current historical facts along with what she knows of local affairs.
Tatiana glances around the room one last time, making sure everything is put back.
It has been wonderful talking with you Glory. We are going to head to a different part of the library now to see if we can find some more information. Hopefully we will see you again.
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"Oh, that's nice that you have such a thing. Banners were invented back in early ages of civilisation..." Glory could not resist to put a historical reference in his speech, "come back here, if you need my advice."
Feeling he is speaking to a friendly group, he speaks to Aramil: "Look for a book called "A Silver Horn", it describes an item of great power, that was used during a Shining Crusades"
Tatiana found that she cleaned everything and brought the room back to its initial look.
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finishing paging through one last book - Tactical Movement with Ustalavan Topography - Onyo places the volume back on the shelf carefully and waddles over towards the center of the room. He rubs his eyes slgihtyl as he walks, 'coming up for air' from a short research binge, the glances around at his fellows.
"Discovered a few interesting facts, some notes that might assist in finding more. Filing system here is a bit arcane, frustrates efforts somewhat."
Almost as an afterthought, Onyo pauses then turns briefly to the animate lion bust and gives a slight nod in recognition.
"Some rooms to the east not yet examined. Should we explore those? Or head deeper into these archives, look at missed chambers if time later?"
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Lion Blade? is that some kind of weapon? I shall have to make a note of that when I get back to my lab...hmmm...I wonder if I could make a potion that would allow a bladed weapon the ability to roar and deafen those around it?.... Flash gets distracted by this new train of thought and follows the others into the next room.
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Tatiana opened door to a north room. This well-lit room held many chairs aligned towards two giant chalkboards that hang on the east wall. Along the opposite wall, several shelves hold books on sundry topics. Simple but colorful tapestries hang along the north wall, giving the room a bright appearance despite the lack of sunlight and the dour portrait of Grand Prince Stavian III affixed to the south wall. A 15-minute hourglass sits atop the teachers desk. Some amount of writing utensils, like blank paper sheets, inkpens and vials of ink are located atop numerous students desks.
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Onyo opened door into other room, north from Main Library Chamber. This room’s well-worn wooden floor sets it apart from the others. The west wall is lined with shelves that support books, a variety of instruments, and dozens of rectangular baskets that contained loose sheaves of paper. Several chairs are pushed against the walls, and a portrait of the Grand Prince hanged to west, surveying everything in the room with magisterial authority.
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Looking around at the instruments and sheet music around him, Onyo sniffs the air in disappointment. Music in a library. Fah! Melodies distract from concentration, truth in lyrics too often altered or excised to fit better melody or propganda.
He takes a depp breath, raising his nose in the air with a mild expression of disadain, then purposefully begins shfiting through some of the texts and pieces.
"Musical Department appears to be in here. Odmar, Hork. could use a hand if know about songs. Might still be kernel of facts buried in operas and military odes."
As he searches, Onyo begins humming one of the few tunes he knows to himself, poorly.
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"Hork doesn't listen to much music. Hork often finds it distracts Hork from the research that Hork is doing."
The tengu follows behind Onyo, pulling a few books off the shelf in an effort to find something relevant. Most of his studies come from local happenings and people, and less about old history. Still, his bird-brain tries to identify useful texts for the party.
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Tatiana, with Aramil help were looking for any clues in classroom. The stern look of Grand Prince Stavian was following them and brass plaque of the portrait stood: "To serve Taldor, I must first learn the history of Taldor". Probably, this was some cryptic message, but following the advice, Tatiana and Aramil started research. Flash was looking through the books a bit absent-mindly, searching for clues, but not noticing them. When friends discovered his frustration, he was assigned copying task and that allowed team to finish search faster.
Research results were something to be proud off, several pages covered with large letters. As well, Tatiana found Bibliographic references in works she were reading , but Aramil came out with dusty card catalogue.
Meanwhile, second team was slowly covering space around chairs with different books, were Onyo was reviewing them and making notes.
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Onyo glances up from [i]The 7th Charge of Felli's Brigade[/] as the two enter the room. The acknowledgement is short-lived; a second later his over-sized head is buried back into the sheaf before him. "Hmm, anything of interest found in the other room? Mostly musical works here, but may be close to discovering something of note."
"Here," he stretches his arm out towards them, holding the next book in his row, "Can look through this if you'd like. Otherwise I will catch up with you once finished here. Hate to leave project incomplete."
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With help of Tatiana and others, Recital Hall was quickly checked. Pile of useful notes, become bigger. Tatiana finally found what she felt strange: for text organization specific system is used. This understanding of Esoterical Alphabetisation came very handy. Onyo meanwhile was almost pissed by amount of useless information he filtered, when he suddenly discovered interesting note about Taldan ciphers.
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Onyo clutches the text on ciphers with a thin grin across his face. "See, something of use here in the end. Obliged," He says to Tatiana, Flash, and Aramil, grateful for their additional assistance.
"So, might be best to hurry towards Eastern rooms, past lion. Believe he mentionned some form of warden or researcher there: implies potential risk, but liekly correlates to higher rate of valuable returns." He continues talking as he quickly puts back the disturbed books and heads out into the hall. "May want to plan course of action in case of encountering mobile opposition."
As Onyo passes Flash, he shows his find to the dwarf. "Flash, discovered interesting encryption procedure. Could be interesting to secure your own formulas. Never can be too careful in protecting discoveries."
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Aramil flashes a wry grin as he replies to Onyo's proclamation "True, bigger risks usually do equal bigger rewards. Come, let's delve further into the library." With that, Aramil returns to the main chamber and quietly opens one of the doors on the other side of the room, peering through to see what's on the other side.