Callix chuckles, "No, just a spoiled girl who didn't listen enough to her mother..and now seems doomed to meet the destiny she'd always sworn I was to live.... And don't worry... my connection to the Drunken Hero is stronger, a reward for our victory here, I think."
Letitia gives Alec a tight smile and a nod when she sees that he also still lives. "Welcome back," she says to him as she passes by him, going about her various tasks.
Letitia's eyes flash when Ashling points out the scroll. "That is a potent spell. It's far beyond my abilities to routinely cast, but one I should be able to cast from a scroll. If the need presents itself."
While she does not become friendly to the goat that she cowed into giving up its master's spells, she does step in to defend it at the end. "It would be typical of my queen's example to reward the beast with a swift death. I... don't feel like following her methods. It's done as I've demanded; my repertoire of spells is greatly expanded. It's earned its life," she says to the others.
Regarding the magic items, she covetously eyes the icicle dagger. "I would very much like to make use of that," she says. "We should also see about taking that cauldron with us. I'd like to figure out what it does, and I'd hate to leave anything of value for Nazhena to return to."
Callix suggests, "Maybe if we both take a look at it -- if you can walk me through what you've noticed and I'll see if I can figure it out? Might match up with something mother talked about."
I can attempt to help, though i'm new to magic studies She goes over to try helping.
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The group spends a full day in the top of the tower, resting, studying and examining the rooms around the tower. there is not a lot of space and perhaps some of the party start feeling a little restless after sitting in an enemy stronghold for so long. however, no one comes and bothers you in the time you spend. examining the ice teleporter will show that it has been altered somehow, making it locked so that only the proper key will allow access. perhaps no one else has a key to this room?
Samuel spends some time looking in the other rooms
this small bedroom is currently empty. there is one simple bed and several empty shelves. it looks like no one has used it in a while.
this room looks quite comfortable, with a large bed, reading desk, padded chair, a bookshelf and a storage chest. windows provide lots of natural light, and several paintings of wintery scenes hang on the walls.
A large bed, wardrobe, reading desk and bookshelf take up most of this circular bedroom. a carved ice sculpture of a striking, robed woman with an owl on her shoulder stands next to an alcove of crystaline tiles. to the south, a white curtain hangs in a doorway.
behind the curtain is a thick door made of ice with a keyhole set into the smooth surface.
with help from the others, you are able to figure out the cauldron.
it is known as a cauldron of overwhelming allies.
once per day, if used as a focus or divine focus for a summon monster or summon nature's ally spell, the cauldron automatically conjures 1d3 additional creatures of the same kind from the next lower tier list. for example, if a caster uses summon monster 3 to summon 1d3 wolves, she could use the cauldron to summon an additional 1d3 wolves (or other creatures from the summon monster 2 list.)
the globe still rotates overhead, serving as a reminder that even with all of the interesting items and spells in this tower, your goal has not yet been completed.
Samuel profits the time resting to craft new ammunition.
As time passes the Taldan grows restless by the fact the portal is still open "Can you not close that portal Letitia?" he looks at the witch and her work with the goat "Does the knowledge in the goat has any answer to how to close that one?"
Unable to be patient enough the Gunslinger decides to finally stand up and starts examining the contents of the rooms. Without much else to do through the day, he does open shelves, look inside beds and coffers, and contemplate the ice sculpture "This place is fine and rich. It is probably the room of the tower witch"
As he runs out of things to do, Samuel starts checking the books in the bookshelves, looking for hints about what might has happened with his sister. Perhaps he finds a diary from the witch, and he tries to deduce what kind of person she is. What are her thoughts and alliances. Maybe trying to come up with a way to defeat or turn her against the unfaithful Queen.
Ultimately he finds out about the ice door behind the curtain "Mmmm... there is a keyhole here. I don't remember having seen a key among Radosek's stuff... can you work out on this, force it open Alec?" the man looks at his recovered ranger friend.
"I can try..."
Alec kneeled down in front of the door and pulled out his set of small tools.
"I have always been astonished on how you do that friend. Your father made a good work teaching you" feeling he might have touched a delicate string Samuel quickly tries to refocus things "My I try to help? I know a thing or two about mechanical stuff and moving parts"
Callix says, "The cauldron explains the elementals - or, at least, why there were so many of them. Not exactly portable, but useful."
She examines the bedchamber, "It likely does belong to the mistress of the tower, though I'd have hoped she might have some additional valuables... Does anyone know anything about art - these paintings could be useful. And it would be a good idea to open the chest, I'd think."
She then asks, "Letitia, do you think there would be any ill effects if I try to stop the globe while you're learning the spells? I would worry that it would attract a lot of attention."
Letitia admires the cauldron, but turns her attention to the globe at Callix's question. "A specific type of spell might be able to stop it, but another method might be successful as well. Let me see if I can manipulate this; it is ice magic, after all."
Letitia looks over from her familiar's work in response to Callix's question. "A specific type of spell might be able to stop it. Can you cast a conjuration spell into the globe? You'll need to stay very focused."
Letitia takes a look at the cauldron, interested in its properties. it does indeed look to be about the same size as the one Letitia currently carries. in fact, she's pretty sure that anything she can do with her current device she could use this one to do just as well.
Letitia examines the globe and the ritual circle on the floor. she recognizes some of the magic, enough to know how to simply disrupt the spell by breaking the circle. she slashes through several symbols, and the globe stops spinning. before it fades out of existence, the bright blue line between Heldren and Waldsby fades and dies. however, all of the other bright lines showing other connection points around Golarion stay. the globe, being just a projected image, fades as well after the spell is broken.
Samuel looks for any information that could give information about his sister. in fact he does find a mention of a girl matching her description! a journal mentions the girl being found by a patrol into the portal. the fey that found her thought she looked like she had some Jadwigga blood in her and she was brought before Nazheena. Nazheena gave her some sort of aptitude test and decided that there was a potential for her to be trained as a witch. finding a woman with the skill is a big deal, as the Jadwiga are not large in number. Nazeena comments that she would like to bring the girl to Whitethrone to have her more formally tested and possibly enrolled in a school.
Callix takes a look at the art in one of the bedrooms. it does indeed look well made, and probably valuable if it could be transported and sold to a collector.
Meanwhile, Alec comes over to see the lock. no keys are found anywhere, even if Samuel tosses a few beds and looks inside bookshelves etc. Alec takes a long time, but eventually manages to pick the lock (DC 30!) and opens the door.
inside, he sees several crates, urns and decanters filling the room. A mirrored vanity and chair sit next to the eastern window. an ice statue of a tall imperious woman stands in the center of the room.
as Alec opens the door, the statue seems to be looking at him. its mouth moves and it says:
"Hinir óboðnu munu visna og deyja eins og frosinn þakinn blómstrandi. þú hefðir aldrei átt að hafa hætt hér og þú myndir gera það gott áður en ég kom aftur!"
The uninvited shall wither and die like a frost covered bloom. you should never have ventured here, and you'd do well to leave before my return!
Letitia runs her hands along the cauldron lovingly. "I believe we'll be taking you with us," she speaks to it. She reaches around and pats the bulbous shape in her pack. "But I'll not be leaving any belonging of mine here, to aid Nazhena in any attempts to scry upon me or work other magics," she announces.
When Alec manages to pick the lock to Nazhena's room, Letitia is very interested. She doesn't react when the statue speaks except arch an eyebrow. She then casts detect magic so long as the statue doesn't animate any further or attack. She sweeps the room from the doorway, looking for additional magical auras and valuables.
there is a whole lot of magic coming from the room. you can tell that there are 27 sources of magic inside the room, with the strongest one being 'Moderate'. from the doorway it is basically impossible to pick out the school and exact location of every aura because they are bunched up and all in the same direction from your position outside the door.
"Damn! Damned witches! A Jadwiga?!" Samuel trembles as he reads the journal and the words about his sister "They have taken her to Whitethrone for testing as one of their witches?!"
The Sentinel takes a while to recover, and only after some hours continues his search and helps Alec to open the door.
"The statue is saying something about punishing those not invited" it seems the time on this region has made finally Samuel remember many of the words toughed to him while he was a child "Letitia, is there a way you can invite us into the room? Although this might be just another witch trick..."
Samuel searches the floor of the new room and eyes the statue from afar to see if this is a trap set by the witch to protect the room.
Letitia stares at Samuel quietly with her ice-blue eyes, her face unreadable. She takes a step toward him, looking like she's about to say something, but then Lazlo hoots to tell her that he's got another spell from the goat that she needs to read.
==================
"There is a great deal of magic within that chamber," she says after taking several moments to count them all. "Twenty-seven auras, to be exact."
She considers Samuel's questions. "This is not my room. The wise Jadwiga protects her sanctum against all intruders -- especially other Jadwiga. It may be that this is a warning meant to scare away the fearful. But someone who has already invaded this far will probably not be cowed by mere words. There is likely some sort of magical trap laid upon this room."
She considers the words. "'Wither and die like a frost-covered bloom.' Hmm. Probably hyperbole, but perhaps there's a clue here. Ice magic is the white witches' specialty, so her threat may allude to some sort of cold attack. 'Wither' could indicate a necromantic spell."
She sighs. "Regardless, we can either heed Nazhena's warnings and leave her belongings, or brave whatever trap she has in store to claim the prizes that lay within. What do you wish to do?" she asks the group.
Alec stood near the doorway, silently scanning the room. His hunter instincts almost screamed at him as his eyes slowly took in the scene before him. Something wasn't right...but what was it...
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Callix steps forward and lays a hand on Samuel's shoulder, "My mother was a Blackraven, and spent years saving children from the witches. It can be done. Don't give up hope."
She then steps back, giving the man space, turning to the other, more tangible, issue. She pauses for a moment, then says, "Given that we have time while the goat and owl commune, I think we should try to gain access - carefully. At this point, I'm quite certain that the Nazhena already wishes us dead, so I'm not too concerned about the potential for revenge, just the traps. I'd rather any useful magic be with us and not her - so much so that if we can't get in easily, we might consider destroying it."
The group stands around the door, eyeing the large number of items inside, curious about the nature of the magical items Letitia knows are there. Alec spots something that no one else quite sees
very faint blue lines are etched in the ice of the floor right in the threshold of the room. it looks to be a magical symbol of some kind, and the positioning leaves little doubt that it is a trap for the vault.
"No one move. There's a trap. Let me try to disarm it first."
Alec stepped slowly into the room, creeping forward, as he seemed to be picking his steps with care.
"Aye, there is hope then. Now that the portal to Taldor is closed I have to keep pushing forward for Ariadna" Samuel seems comforted by Callix words "Did you ever traveled with your mom to help those who felt on the witches hands?"
"You are right. If the witch has some things of value here, we are better making sure we get rid of them" the Taldan readies his musket pointing at the statue "Shall I shot it down? Do you think it will help?"
In any case, he readies to shot the statue if for any reason it suddenly animates while Alec works on what he has found.
Alec attempts to break the spell by scratching off part of the rune that is visible. unfortunately he steps over a segment of the rune before he starts working, triggering the trap!
suddenly, Alec's hair turns white. he feels aches in his joints that he has never felt before. it is harder to breathe than it was seconds ago, and suddenly all of his injuries feel more serious.
Samuel opens his eyes wide upon Alec's fortuitous transformation. The man rushes to help his friend "Are you ok Alec?! Your... your hair... and your face... you suddenly became old"
"This must be the works of Nazhena. That wicked witch! We have to do something to finish her" the Taldan examines Alec to see if there is anything he can do for him, but he ultimately turns to Letitia hoping the witch might know what has Nazhena sent over his friend.
After firstly making sure Alec is ok, the Sentinel examines the runes the ranger has triggered, to see if the trap is still active or the triggering has dissipated the magic.
My lord! what in the nine hells kind of spell ages people that seriously?? Ashlings eyes go wide as she watches Alek age
Letitia's eyes bulge as she sees the effects of the trap. She immediately starts considering the magics that must have been used to pull off such an affliction.
"That's a vicious curse." She grits her teeth in frustration. Why do I keep underestimating my cousins?
Trying to give some measure of reassurance, she tells Alec, "It was done by magic, so magic can undo it. I'll figure something out."
Samuel taps Alec's shoulders "You see man. She will figure something out. And we will help her"
"It's not that bad, you do know now how will you look when you get older. If you find someone who gives you an eye like that, you will truly know she loves you for life" the Taldan attempts a cheering up smile.
Then turns to the trap and checks if the trap has rearmed itself.
Suddenly everything felt heavier. His body ached and he had to squint to see clearly. He stared down at his hands, seeing wrinkles he had never noticed before. Words rang out all around him but they didn't register. Not until he felt Samuel's hand on his shoulder. He turned to glare at his friend, and then at Letitia.
"We won't live that long" he said. "Take you treasures and let's be done with this place."
With that he turned and quietly walked out of the room.
Letitia casts detect magic one more time and counts the auras. If it's twenty-six or fewer, she strides in and begins gathering the treasures within.
Callix blinks as the magic takes Alec, then nods at Letitia's statement. We can fix that... somehow... Let's add one more petty evil to the list of things we need to avenge.. She watches as Alec shambles off, wincing at the hopelessness in his voice, Hopefully we can trigger some anger.. or something... in there... Though let's give him a bit of time, first.
Finally, she mutters, "Eto deystvitel'no dolzhno stoit' zatrat ... i ya imeyu v vidu ne tol'ko magicheskiye predmety."
you identify the effects of the spell on Alec. it was Sand of Time. it has aged him but only temporarily. he will be back to normal in a little over an hour. it seems like more of a wanring than a trap designed to do permanent harm.
the room does now have one less aura now that the trap has been triggered. it was a glyph of warding, so now that it has been triggered it will not fire again.
it looks like the trap has erased the rune that triggered it, it should not be able to fire again.
Letitia looks over Alec for a few minutes, then moves into the room to start gathering the treasures within. she finds:
a box of 12 scrolls
9 potions
50 bars of silver, each weiging 10 pounds and worth 50gp
a locked chest with an additional 5 magical auras coming from it. one of them is the moderate aura that Letitia detected initially.
"Ok, look, you erased the runes Alec. I think you disabled the trap somehow after all" given Letitia seems to also enter the room unperturbed, the Sentinel decides to step in as well.
"There is plenty of magic stuff for you sorcerers... is there anything of use?" Samuel picks up the potions and looks at the color and smell to try identify them with some already seen by him.
"It is probably time we start to think how the hell we get out of the tower without being attacked by the guards"
Letitia suddenly smiles after examining the magical aura surrounding Alec. She laughs softly, her eyes dancing. She follows him out of the room maneuvers so that she stands in front of him. She studies his wrinkled countenance, a light smile playing upon her lips. "I've figured out the cure to your affliction. You simply need a kiss from a witch." She rises to her tiptoes and gives him a cool, dry kiss. "Give it an hour and you'll be fine."
After working with her familiar again to learn more of the goat's spells, she returns to Nazhena's room. "I have read magic prepared. Allow me to determine what scrolls we have found."
Callix offers, "I'll assist Letitia looking over the other items -- multiple sets of eyes helped with the cauldron, after all."
With a dark look on his face, Alec retreated a step as Letitia leaned in. "I'd rather just stay old."
Letitia's eyes flash in sudden anger. They narrow, glaring ice daggers at him as he retreats a step.
She scowls, spins on her heel, and storms back to the bedroom to busy herself with the scrolls they found.
after an awkward exchange, Letitia moves away to look over the scrolls and is able to read them all. she finds:
2X comprehend languages
2X cure moderate wounds
delay poison
dispel magic
Irriseni mirror sight
remove disease
2X remove sickness
threefold aspect
youthful appearance
Samuel starts tasting potions to determine their effects
he finds:
2X cure light wounds
2X enlarge person
3X oil of mask dweomer
2X reduce person
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Samuel takes the potions after identifying them, then softly kicks the chest "Can you open it Alec?"
"It is now time to leave the tower. I suggest we break one of the windows, the least exposed to the fortress court, and descend there with a rope" he turns to Letitia and Callix "Do we have access to some magics able to help us in a suble escape?"
Before leaving, the Taldan looks for ink in Nazhena's room, whatever she uses to write her letters or make up will serve, and writes in her mirror .
After finishing his art, he turns to the others and says "A final present for emptying Nazhena's treasure. Let's strike fear on them" and openly smiles.
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"I can try... ...if you can keep your wife away from me."
You do realize that technically right now, i am the Black Rider yes? She watches Samuel painting with vague curiousity
Callix laughs, "Are you suggesting that you've died?"
Letitia remains stiff-backed and actively ignoring the very presence of Alec while she catalogues the scrolls and sorts them into spells she may want to add to her repertoire and those more immediately useful.
She considers Samuel's idea to climb down the tower to avoid having to fight their way out. She considers her spells that might help in such an endeavor. Finally, she shakes her head. "No, I've nothing that would make such a task easier.
"Mind you, if we are successful in fleeing the tower in such a way, we will be leaving portions of this tower unexplored. We will therefore have to return to Nadya and inform her we did not find her daughter."
Samuel scribbles a note on the large mirror in Nazheena's room, then looks for ways out of the tower. there are windows you could go out of, but you are about 100 feet in the air. there are also 2 ice teleporters: the one you came in through and the one in Nazheena's bedroom.
Alec spends some time with the lockbox. it is not trapped, so eventually he picks the lock and pulls out the contents: a bag, a heavy blue robe and a coffer.
the coffer itself is unlocked, and inside there are two feather tokens one showing a symbol of a bird, the other a tree. there is also a wand, and a ring.
the tokens, wand, ring, bag and robe are all magical.
Letitia works to identify the magic in the items.
Samuel chuckles at Alec's appreciation "There is a heart inside all those layers of recklessness"
The man smiles at Ashling "And exactly, I am making them know they have not defeated him and he will come after them. Striking them in fear I hope"
While he was preparing a escape plan, gathering ropes and clothes that might work as one he is struck by Letitia's words "You are just so right... the child..."
After looking around... "There is that icy teleporter we do not know where it brings. It might be the prison of the child. I say we step in and discover. If that does not work, I suggest we descend from the window, then come back through the entrance once more. They expect us inside the tower, we can catch them by surprise a second time"
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Callix says, "Letitia is right. We need to keep our promise.. preferably before my aleskin is emptied."
She takes a breath, then says, "Now that we've been here for a full day, and we've disrupted the portal, I'm thinking there's probably a bit of nervousness out there... Which means they'll likely be on edge and not want us to just walk out the door.... But at the same time, I think we might be able to use that to our advantage."
She says, "They don't know what's happening, and are likely worried they're under attack.... So maybe we give them the attack they're looking for. Set a few fires - I'm thinking that some of that finery will burn... and, better still, the Aerie, especially with all the bird dung. Basically, turn up the chaos and then call out that we're under attack -- point them in a direction away from where we want to be -- our search for Nadya's daughter -- and, when we're ready, the front gate."
Letitia identifies most of the items. she finds a feather token (bird) and a feather token (tree), and a wand of color spray with 23 charges. the bag is commonplace enough that Letitia figures out it is a bag of holding even with a low roll. the robe and ring are still unidentified.
inside the bag of holding Letitia also finds 1,590 gold pieces!
so where to next? you have not found any more ice teleporter keys, so you may not have the one needed to operate the new platform you found in Nazheena's room. you could force it to work with a UMD check potentially, or head back the way you came.
Callix says, "I think it's worth seeing where the other teleporter leads, if we can, that is."
The gold lifts Letitia's spirits, though she is frustrated by failing to identify the robe and the ring. "I've no idea what these two do. But the bag should be very helpful in moving the silver ingots from here."
She gives the wand an sour look. "Odd that Nazhena would have this; it is a spell not easily accessed by a witch." She stuffs it in the bag along with the items she failed to identify.
When Callix discusses leaving via the teleporter, Letitia looks dubious. "Well, with no key, and no passphrase with which to activate it, it may be difficult to get it to activate. I've had some training at activating magical objects, so I may be successful. However, be warned; this is keyed to a location of Nazhena's choosing. We could find ourselves hundreds of miles away."
"Sounds fine with me. Let's do it. Anywhere else has to be better than here."