"Yess, and it looks like a way out!" shouts Hisstla back down.
Gesturing to her, Lionel says "Geetra-Na, come on, let's move it!" and continues climbing up the ladder.
That's right! You stir to consciousness again. It was one of those "black out for an instant and you have no idea how much time has passed" things. You awaken to Lionel's insistent yelling.
Geetra-Na rises from the water with a groan and looks around in confusion
"How long have I been out?" she yells over the sound of rushing water
Geetra-Na's question is posed to the others, but even as she's asking, she's noticing the rising water levels and remembering the last few moments of consciousness before she was knocked out again. It's been mere moments.
The water's at about neck-level when you're standing up, and still rising fast.
Geetra-Na cusses "I'll meet up with you later" she says as she dives under the water and starts to swim back the way they came
Geetra-Na is able to reach the dogs, who are able to recognize their plight well enough not to attack her when she releases them. One of them, the larger of the two, presses his head into your palm; the other, a smaller female, hangs back warily.
The rest of you are able to discover a tunnel hidden behind the tapestry in the pentagram room. It leads to the surface, around the back end area of the island. Geetra-Na and the two hounds reach the entrance soon after, and you all are reunited - safe from the flooded Sanctuary, but empty-handed of Scrolls. What happens next?
The FIRST thing that happens next is an End of Session move! First Session is a bit short, but I like it that way so that they gradually elongate as the story demands. End of Session moves work like this:
End of Session
When you reach the end of a session, choose one your bonds that you feel is resolved (completely explored, no longer relevant, or otherwise). Ask the player of the character you have the bond with if they agree. If they do, mark XP and write a new bond with whomever you wish.
Once bonds have been updated look at your alignment. If you fulfilled that alignment at least once this session, mark XP. Then answer these three questions as a group:
Did we learn something new and important about the world?
Did we overcome a notable monster or enemy?
Did we loot a memorable treasure?
For each “yes” answer everyone marks XP.
After you reunite with each other outside the flooded Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, you realize that a stash of treasure and goods was placed at the end of the secret escape route that you used. After checking it carefully for traps or rune spells, you open the chest. The lid is heavy, but unlocked. Inside, you find several items; identifying their magical properties is a Spout Lore roll that you can attempt 3 times a day.
The items are:
A spiked, steel mace (1 weight)
A two-handed halberd with a finely-made leather hilt (2 weight)
Spare Dark Brotherhood uniforms (1 weight each)
A tower shield with a castle painted on the front (2 weight)
6 healing potions, 6 stamina potions, and 6 Potions of Destruction on a vial belt that can be worn across the chest (0 weight)
A steel-clad book on a chain, to be worn about the waist (0 weight)
Heavy steel fullplate armor (2 weight)
Hisstla would examine the book and then open it to read the first page and see what it is about.
Lionel examines the weapons and uniforms :
Mace
Halberd
Uniforms
Hisstla, upon opening the book, you find theories on Aedra and Daedric Princes, as well as a chronology of different minor Daedra that serve the more well-known Daedric Lords. Particular emphasis is placed on the Lesser Demons that serve the Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon, the Lord of Change. The last page with writing on it - about halfway through the book's total pages - tells of an abandoned Telvanni Tower with a Warped Soul Gem that could be used for summoning one of Dagon's servants. The Telvanni Tower is described as close by to the Sanctuary, about a half-day's trek inland and to the northwest.
The mace is a Mace of Waxing Power, with the Forceful and Armor Piercing 1 tags. Every time you roll a +10 on a hack and slash with this mace, choose a random stat. You gain +1 forward on any roll that uses that stat.
The Halberd is a Halberd of Domination. Roll +Con while holding the Halberd to Dominate a summoned elemental or daedra, putting it permanently under your control while the Halberd is in your hands.
Let's see a Spout Lore roll from you on the nature of Mehrunes Dagon. Your character did grow up in this world, but there isn't a whole lot of definitive, widespread information on the daedric princes and how they work. There have been several books written on the subject, and the roll will determine how well-read you are on them, but even they contain many educated guesses.
As for whether the Halberd would work...there's only one way to find out for sure. ;)
"I'm pretty sure this book is the autobiography of a mentally retarded Runed Dragon."
Huh? What's a Dagon?
After gathering up their belongings and dividing them up among themselves however they please, the Shadowscales closed the chest again and made for the beach where they made landfall on this island. You can see when you arrive at your vehicle that it is already floating on the water slightly, instead of up on dry land where it was originally. This is because the flooding of the Dark Brotherhood's Sanctuary was so extensive and complete that the island itself has sunk slightly beneath the waves. Luckily for you all, it does not appear to be still sinking.
"Time to head back home. I'm disappointed that we didn't find a scroll, but somewhat relieved at the same time."
"Anyone interested in going to the Telvanni Tower while we're in the neighborhood?"
Geetra-Na goes to pull the boat closer for the dogs; calling for her owl as she does so "Something interesting in that book? well I don't mind, they didn't say when we had to report back"
"I suppose we can Lion-el, but why would you ask?
"Well, I don't know really, except that the book happened to mention it and we're nearby..."
Adding to the weight of Lionel's argument is the knowledge that your superiors will be displeased if you return completely empty-handed from your mission.
The choice of what to do next is entirely yours, but the Overcouncil of Tribes is historically harsh toward failure.
"Then let us make a trek there and see what there is to see."
If the rest of you agree, let's see some Perilous Journey rolls. (You are still free to disagree and debate a different course of action, I'm just trying to keep things moving.)
Undertake a Perilous Journey
When you travel through hostile territory, choose one member of the party to act as trailblazer, one to scout ahead, and one to be quartermaster. Each character with a job to do rolls+Wis. ✴On a 10+:
the quartermaster reduces the number of rations required by one
the trailblazer reduces the amount of time it takes to reach your destination (the GM will say by how much)
the scout will spot any trouble quick enough to let you get the drop on it
✴On a 7–9, each role performs their job as expected: the normal number of rations are consumed, the journey takes about as long as expected, no one gets the drop on you but you don’t get the drop on them either.
You can’t assign more than one job to a character. If you don’t have enough party members, or choose not to assign a job, treat that job as if it had been assigned and the responsible player had rolled a 6.
Distances in Dungeon World are measured in rations. A ration is the amount of supplies used up in a day. Journeys take more rations when they are long or when travel is slow.
A perilous journey is the whole way between two locations. You don’t roll for one day’s journey and then make camp only to roll for the next day’s journey, too. Make one roll for the entire trip.
This move only applies when you know where you’re going. Setting off to explore is not a perilous journey. It’s wandering around looking for cool things to discover. Use up rations as you camp and the GM will give you details about the world as you discover them.
The journey takes two rations' worth of time to reach the Telvanni tower ordinarily, but Lionel spots a lesser-used road off the beaten path that shortens your time. You encounter a caravan of Khajiit, 7 cats in total. They see you at about the same time you see them. They are traveling toward you on the side-road you're walking on, and will walk past you in a few moments. They don't appear to be readying any hostile actions. What do you do?
(Consume 1 ration for your trip).
"We should see if these Khajit have anything to trade, even just information about the road behind them."
With that in mind, Hisstla walks towards them and says "Greetings friends. Do you have a moment to talk?"