GM PaleDim's PFS #6-15: The Overflow Archives (Inactive)

Game Master PaleDim

The gameplay thread for #6-15: The Overflow Archives. If you are already signed up to play, please dot-and-delete here to get post notifications on your campaign tab!

Beneath the Grand Lodge of Absalom lie the vaults, a series of storerooms and libraries that contain much of the Society’s findings from the past centuries. Cataloguing the sundry relics and texts takes time, and finds requiring closer study find their way to an extensive vault called the Overflow Archives. Soon after a pair of initiates sneaks into the archive and steals a few items on a dare, the complex inexplicably springs a leak. It is up to the PCs to investigate this strange phenomenon and put a stop to it before thousands of priceless documents are ruined forever.

You are gathered at a very late hour, and on short notice, in the lobby of the Overflow Archives under the Grand Lodge.

“I have no love of puns,” announces a peeved Kreighton Shaine, the Master of Scrolls in the Grand Lodge, “Yet it cannot go unremarked that the Overflow Archives have begun living up to their name.”

The pale elf gestures across the library’s stone lobby toward a pair of shut double doors from beneath which water steadily seeps. He is only one of the midnight visitors bearing witness to this disaster. Next to Shaine, Paracountess Zarta Dralneen stands with folded arms, glaring at an initiate whose hair and clothes are utterly drenched.

All three speak at once, but Shaine’s shrill voice rises above the din. “Magical shenanigans in the archives are prohibited, especially this soon before the Grand Convocation!”

“Let us prioritize,” Dralneen suggests. “Are the artifacts within the vaults in danger?”

“How should I know?” Shaine barks back. “This delinquent initiate—
what was the name? Wormell?”

“Virml, sir,” replies the sodden Pathfinder.

“Virml says he sneaked into the archives on a dare,” summarizes Shaine, painfully emphasizing the initiate’s name with scolding disdain. “Presumably, he thought the holdings would be harmless. Instead, in his naivete, Virml triggered some dormant curse or other. So, yes, thanks to Virml here, the archives and the vaults below continue to flood, threatening all the books therein.”

Miserably, Virml holds up an armload of soggy manuscripts. “I salvaged a few, sir.”

Sighing, Shaine leads Virml towards the stairs. “Take them up to the scriptorium. Start making dry copies.” Then, turning to survey the rest of the room, he continues issuing orders. “The remainder of you should wade in there and plumb the origins of this deluge. Stop it, if you can. I must report this debacle to my colleagues and begin organizing the cleanup.” Abruptly, he seems to notice the paracountess for the first time. “What are you doing here, Dralneen?”

Zarta smirks and shrugs. “Unlike you, Shaine, I love a good pun.”

All three turn to walk off, but if you stop them now you might be able to ask some questions!

Kalak, a very large and tall Shaonti man, nods in confirmation to Master Shaine, do we know of which spirits they may have angered with Virml’s actions? And are there artifacts we should not be disturbing while we are down here?

Jilla waits patiently for Kalak to get his answer, and then says "Don't worry Master Shaine, you won't have to drown us with the details! We'll stem the tide of damage and fish out any manuscripts before it's too late. With this team on hand, you can pour your troubles down the drain! We'll dive right in, and you'll sea results in no time!" She smiles winningly.

An angry half orc paces furiously, mumbling and muttering:
"Ruined! My business is ruined! I blame the damnable cold of Irrisen for this situation; I still can't feel my toes!"

Kaseem pays attention Master Shaine and peppers people with questions,
"You there! Vermin! May your chickens grow lips for this you addled dolt! Exactly what did you do and where did you do it? Who made this 'dare'? What exactly was the dare? What were you supposed to do? How many other morons traipsed down here and illegally entered the Overflow Archives? Why if I had my camel whip I'd give you a sound thrashing!"

Intimidate: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (9) + 4 = 13

Turning to Master Shane and Zarta Dralneen he asks,
"Do you have any magical means of stopping such a flood? Perhaps a magical container to put the item in so we can cut off the water flow? Or a portal to Osirion? The deserts there could absorb all the water this thing is creating with no issue. Or something to put the no doubt large number of books in the Overflow Archives so we can get them out of this mess? And does anyone have a means of allowing us to breathe water?"

Kalak, a very large and tall Shaonti man, nods in confirmation to Master Shaine, do we know of which spirits they may have angered with Virml’s actions? And are there artifacts we should not be disturbing while we are down here?

Shaine reports, “Our delinquent initiate here is vague on the details. But clearly, some unclassified item in there must have borne a well-concealed curse.”

Virml feebly volunteers that he rescued a few texts before Shaine interrupts. “Don’t waste your time with the individual pieces. Important artifacts can be easily left alone, though they are... getting very wet. You must arrest the flood at its source—or reverse it, if possible.”

Jilla waits patiently for Kalak to get his answer, and then says "Don't worry Master Shaine, you won't have to drown us with the details! We'll stem the tide of damage and fish out any manuscripts before it's too late. With this team on hand, you can pour your troubles down the drain! We'll dive right in, and you'll sea results in no time!" She smiles winningly.

Shaine's incredulousness deepens as his face grows beet red. Whether in shock or pure anger you cannot tell. Zarta appears as though she might lose it and succumb to laughter watching him suffer.

Kaseem pays attention Master Shaine and peppers people with questions,

"You there! Vermin! May your chickens grow lips for this you addled dolt! Exactly what did you do and where did you do it? Who made this 'dare'? What exactly was the dare? What were you supposed to do? How many other morons traipsed down here and illegally entered the Overflow Archives? Why if I had my camel whip I'd give you a sound thrashing!"

Virml sheepishly relates, “I...I merely picked up a wee scroll, read part of it aloud for fun—some kind of riddle about birds and fish? And then it flew to bits in my hand, and I caught the quickest glimpse of a handsome man...and then ker-sploosh! I washed out here! The dare is exactly as stupid as you would expect... to sneak down here and return with anything of note.”

Turning to Master Shane and Zarta Dralneen he asks,

"Do you have any magical means of stopping such a flood? Perhaps a magical container to put the item in so we can cut off the water flow? Or a portal to Osirion? The deserts there could absorb all the water this thing is creating with no issue. Or something to put the no doubt large number of books in the Overflow Archives so we can get them out of this mess? And does anyone have a means of allowing us to breathe water?"

Zarta just stares at Kaseem for several moments.

If I had such a means, we would not be standing here like idiots at midnight! As for the books, Virml has the right of it. Your best move is to locate the source of the water and stem the tide. Then we'll see what books may be saved. Funny... Virml is capable of reason and sense now.

She shoots him a glare with eyes like daggers. It appears the joy of pun only goes so far.

Yulau keeps quiet for the time being. She’d never met the Master of Scrolls before, and didn’t want to make a bad impression while he was raging. The dark haired human just smiled, and nodded appropriately as the story was told.

Good thing I wasn’t in on the date, or I might be the one getting yelled at, she thought to herself.

”Could you tell us more about the scroll,” she managed to ask.

Why is it we are always cleaning up someone's mess these days? Often have foolish ones tampered with the spirit world and caused mayhem.... the large Shoanti says, shaking his bald head from side to side. Kasseem, I know we have returned from that land of ice and snow, but this is water in a different way. I can no more breathe water than a fish breathes air my friend. At least this is more straightforward, clean up the mess.

Ramrod straight and severe as an old nun (though not nearly so wrinkly), a gray-haired elven woman glares frostily down her nose at the proceedings. Once there's a gap in what these immature little twits call a "conversation", she swoops to Virml, blocking his exit and looming over him. A yardstick hooked to her belt swings like a pendulum for a moment before its momentum is arrested by the friction of her impeccably pressed skirt. She glares down at him, snapping waspishly: "You still have not answered where you were when you read that scroll. Do that, then quote the scroll, to the best of your limited ability. I doubt such an imbecile as you would be able to remember it well enough to risk further harm in doing so." She whips out a piece of paper and a charcoal stick wrapped in paper, ready to take notes. Eyes narrowed, she waits for the dolt to speak.

"Wow, she's tough!" Jilla whispers to the others. "Reminds me of the schoolmarm that used to paddle my backside for not paying attention in class when I was a wee girl!"

Kaseem ibn al Majid wrote:

Kaseem pays attention Master Shaine and peppers people with questions,

"You there! Vermin! May your chickens grow lips for this you addled dolt! Exactly what did you do and where did you do it? Who made this 'dare'? What exactly was the dare? What were you supposed to do? How many other morons traipsed down here and illegally entered the Overflow Archives? Why if I had my camel whip I'd give you a sound thrashing!"

Virml sheepishly relates, “I...I merely picked up a wee scroll, read part of it aloud for fun—some kind of riddle about birds and fish? And then it flew to bits in my hand, and I caught the quickest glimpse of a handsome man...and then ker-sploosh! I washed out here! The dare is exactly as stupid as you would expect... to sneak down here and return with anything of note.”

"So how many others are participating in this 'dare'? What did they make off with? A bunch of filthy handed thieves! You're lucky; in Sothis, the Pharaoh's men would cut your hands off! Do the words on the scroll or the 'handsome man' mean anything to anyone?"

Wondering if there are Knowledge checks to be made for either the words or the handsome man. Sounds like fey to the player but the PC wouldn't know.

Turning to Master Shane and Zarta Dralneen he asks,

"Do you have any magical means of stopping such a flood? Perhaps a magical container to put the item in so we can cut off the water flow? Or a portal to Osirion? The deserts there could absorb all the water this thing is creating with no issue. Or something to put the no doubt large number of books in the Overflow Archives so we can get them out of this mess? And does anyone have a means of allowing us to breathe water?"

Zarta just stares at Kaseem for several moments.

If I had such a means, we would not be standing here like idiots at midnight! As for the books, Virml has the right of it. Your best move is to locate the source of the water and stem the tide. Then we'll see what books may be saved. Funny... Virml is capable of reason and sense now.

She shoots him a glare with eyes like daggers. It appears the joy of pun only goes so far.

"I would've thought someone of your prestige and position would have access to something which may help. It appears both of us are going to live with disappointment. A thousand pardons for my mistake!"

Dripping with sarcasm, Kaseem finishes his statement with a bow and flourish to complete his 'apology' before continuing.

"Perhaps someone should begin planning to evacuate the Lodge in case we cannot stop this damnable flood. It looks like someone diverted the River Sphynx into the Overflow Archives! Come my comrades, we're the best hope for the Society to remain afloat..."

Kaseem makes sure his scroll of Air Bubble is handy and gestures for Kalak to open the door.

”Could you tell us more about the scroll,” she managed to ask.

Virml sheepishly produces a dripping fragment of a scroll. Shaine snatches the parchment and hands it over, saying “It appears to be one of the rhymes from The Name of the Fox. It’s an odd little scroll of Varisian doggerel, scripted in Sylvan. There’s nothing remarkable about it—”

“Nothing until now, perhaps?” quips Zarta Dralneen.

Virml hands you the fragment of the scroll that he's apparently been holdling.

See handout on Slide 3.

"You still have not answered where you were when you read that scroll. Do that, then quote the scroll, to the best of your limited ability. I doubt such an imbecile as you would be able to remember it well enough to risk further harm in doing so."

I... I forget where I picked up the scroll. And I can remember no more than this fragment I just handed to her. He gestures vaguely at Yulau.

More posts coming a little later tonight. Ran out of time right this moment.

"So how many others are participating in this 'dare'? What did they make off with? A bunch of filthy handed thieves! You're lucky; in Sothis, the Pharaoh's men would cut your hands off! Do the words on the scroll or the 'handsome man' mean anything to anyone?"

Virml sighs, clearly growing tired of the questions and wanting to get to scribing copies of the tomes he saved.

Just me. The others who put me up to it are still back at their lodgings, sound asleep. Or at a nearby tavern laughing in my expense.

He sighs and turns to head out again, his forlorn expression deepening.

"I would've thought someone of your prestige and position would have access to something which may help. It appears both of us are going to live with disappointment. A thousand pardons for my mistake!"

Zarta retorts The means I have access to is all of you. Be useful. And... listen to her.

She gestures in Professor Molvil's direction, a wry smile forming at the edge of her mouth.

She seems...strict; and on point. I like that.

The paracountess also turns to depart.

To answer your question: there are no knowledge checks here at the beginning like some scenarios have. Just a situation :)

Any final questions?

”Well, that doesn’t make any sense at all,” Yulau mutters while reading what was left of the scroll. ”Anyone else want to puzzle on this,” she says, holding the scroll out for the others.

Jilla reads over the scroll. She puts up a hand as if she's on the verge of an insight, but then her face falls. "Nope, no idea," she says, handing it back.

Is the scroll actually written in Sylvan or is what we're reading another work in Common that translates the original? (It probably doesn't matter and I'm overthinking)

Professor Masaendri knows Sylvan, so she'll translate if necessary.

Zarta retorts The means I have access to is all of you. Be useful. And... listen to her.

She gestures in Professor Molvil's direction, a wry smile forming at the edge of her mouth.

She seems...strict; and on point. I like that.

Without even taking the disapproval directed at Virml off her face, Professor Masaendri gives a crisp nod to the Paracountess in recognition of the compliment before turning to raise a judgmental eyebrow at Kaseem's sarcasm. Her hand fiddles with her yardstick as she sourly remarks: "Disrespecting your superiors is ill advised, not to mention a waste of our time. Now! Young lady, may I see that scrap of trouble?" She holds out her hand to accept the scrap of the scroll from Yulau.

After reading it aloud, first in Sylvan (the cadence and rhythm of the original language might be meaningful) and then in Common (for obvious reasons), she observes: "It certainly seems trivial enough. This scrap fails to give us a sense of the original intent of the caster who created it. I will keep this for now, though if anyone else wants to try to puzzle over it you are welcome. However, I believe our best course of action right now is to find the source of the water." The Professor strides to the leaky door, puts her hand on the knob, and turns to see if everyone is following. When the group is ready, she opens the door, stands to the side, and ushers everyone through ahead of her.

Time for a field trip!

Kalak, seeing the elven woman take charge and open the door, quickly hurries through it, hand straying toward his massive earthbreaker, hoping he won't need it. The Shoanti descends into the vault looking for what he can find.

Yulau nodded. It was time for the adventure to begin!

The Paracountess doubles back, approaching the Professor but motioning for her to meet her halfway, pulling her away from the group.

Zarta leans in, whispering.

She departs the Archives immediately after this.

Next post coming momentarily...

Into the Archives!

The Overflow Archives is comprised of the large basement on this level and a sub-basement below. This portion contains a disorganized wealth of papers, treatises, baubles, and books, many of which are dislodged by the floodwaters and now drift gently throughout the basement.

The vaulted ceilings are 20 feet high at the walls, rising to 35 feet at their apexes. Across ceilings and around pillars, faded murals feature elaborate patterns interweaving moons, stars, and butterflies.

Everburning torches provide normal light, and the many bookshelves here rise about 10 feet in height.

You exit the lobby... Map updated.

This spacious library is a damp catastrophe. A lake of dark water clogged with books, scroll cases, and a few overturned shelves obscures the floor. Steps descend into the brine from the western doors, while at the east end of the room a spiral staircase rises from the water to a mezzanine above. The same metal staircase must descend into a basement below as well, for the water there burbles downward in a dark, lazy whirlpool. This room is partially flooded and functions as a shallow bog.

A sporadic cascade of water spurts and gushes down from the mezzanine, just south of the staircase. The flow appears substantial, but neither the waterfall nor the whirlpool poses much threat to any creatures of size Small or larger.

Two birdlike humanoids—one owl-faced, the other resembling an albatross—have converted a mahogany bookshelf into a fishing boat. As you arrive, the pair are casting their crude fishing rods near the spiral staircase. The Owl seems to have retrieved something with his rod, and the ornery pair are bickering over whose prize it ought to be. Squinting for visual distance, you can see that what they hold is another fragment of the scroll, similar to the one you just received.

Barely noticing you, the Owl yells in your direction before they quickly get back to squabbling with each other.

“Hey! Go away! This is our bestest fishin’ spot.”

What do you do?

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28

"Near the northwest corner of the room there's a metal grate that provides an outlet for the water but it's partially clogged with soggy papers and leather. If we can remove the blockage it should improve drainage from the room. Can anyone swim?"

Being a desert dweller Kaseem has no ranks in Swim.

Kaseem awaits someone who might know what these creatures are and how to approach/communicate with them before doing anything else.

Know nature untrained 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10

”Those look like gathlains. She the wooden wings and the vines? No idea why they are here, though!”

She turns to face the owl. ”We aren’t looking to take your prize fishing hole! We would like to borrow that piece of paper you are holding though. If you’d give it to us, we could be out of your hair in no time!”

Diplomacy 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18

Professor Masaendri nods thoughtfully as she and the Paracountess part, then strides purposefully after the group into the sodden Overflow Archives. She holds back a grimace as she steps down into the water, thankful that she's wearing her practical shoes tonight.

@Kaseem: Shallow bogs are about 1 foot deep, so no need to swim just yet. This whole area cuts our movement in half, though.

The Professor nods once as Kaseem spots the covered grate, responding in her teaching voice: "Correct, Kaseem. The drain will help this room, though if the basement has no drain, it will fill up more quickly. Now, how many of you have noted where the water is likely originating?" As she speaks, she begins sloshing forward to better lead the group.

“Hey! Go away! This is our bestest fishin’ spot.”

Pursing her lips in irritation at being so addressed, Professor Masaendri replies: "Luckily for you, we are not fishing tonight. Now, Pathfinders: note that here we have the owl and the albatross, as stated in the scrap of nonsense that blundering twit, Virml, gave us. Who has a prediction of what will happen next?" If mine is correct, oh my! The excitement! Hm. Perhaps I should have stayed at the back of the group.

Kalak observes the two fishermen, and considers what type of fish might be found in this unexplainable water falling from wherever.

Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

Hearing Kasseem's suggestion about clearing the drain, and wanders over to it, kicking the scrolls and debris free from the 'drain'. Content to let Yulau try to talk the strange fishermen and see if she can get the paper from them.

Kalak can't imagine that there should be any fish in these waters at all, given that they only just appeared to flood the Archives! It's clear that the gaithlans have only obtained the scrap of scroll from the waters (or else they would have more to fight over!)

On Kaseem's observation he wanders over to the grate and clears it of debris. The water level in the room does start to decrease, very slowly. However, you can see that the grate is pulling all manner of books and other debris in the room back towards it. This will be a losing battle.

Despite the fact that the Professor and Yulau respond to the gaithlans rather curtly, they seem to take to the young kitsune.

One success on Diplomacy. Keep the checks coming as you try to convince them to give you the fragment and/or change their attitude towards you.

They have now stopped squabbling and are watching Yulau with interest. They look at her. They look down at the scrap of paper they hold. They look at each other, and then back at her.

Hmm. We did catch it ourselves. Maybe you should have brought your own fishing rod, and you could get your own!

What do you do?

Despite the fact that the Professor and Yulau respond to the gaithlans rather curtly, they seem to take to the young kitsune.

One success on Diplomacy. Keep the checks coming as you try to convince them to give you the fragment and/or change their attitude towards you.

They have now stopped squabbling and are watching Yulau with interest. They look at her. They look down at the scrap of paper they hold. They look at each other, and then back at her.

Hmm. We did catch it ourselves. Maybe you should have brought your own fishing rod, and you could get your own!

What do you do?

"Pardon our manners. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Kaseem ibn al Majid. I am a cleric of the Green Empress and I come from Osirion. What are your names and where do you come from? We didn't realize there was a lake to fish in in this room. Before a magical mishap it was dry; do you happen to know anything about where the water is coming from?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

That roll doesn't help.

”Clearly you two are much better fishers than us. Heck, we even forgot our fishing poles! But, like I said, if you’d be kind enough to let us have that scrap of paper, we’d be on our way, letting you catch all kinds of things in here without us butting in on your spot!”

Diplomacy 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

Those two seem to be a few lobes short of a whole brain between them. Glancing down, Professor Masaendri notes a scrap of parchment that's folded up on itself in the vague shape of a fish. She scoops it out of the water and holds it up to show the gathlains. "I propose a trade: this fish in exchange for yours. This one is a..." She glances at the parchment to swiftly read a few words. "...Treatise Fish."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13
If you think Bluff would be a better skill, the modifier is the same.

If you think Bluff would be a better skill, the modifier is the same.

That's definitely a bluff attempt.

The gaithlans both squint at the professor suspiciously.

"We know what a fish looks like, elf-lady! Nice try! We know this isn't a fish, but it seems important." The owl waves the fragment around as he hollers.

"Pardon our manners. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Kaseem ibn al Majid. I am a cleric of the Green Empress and I come from Osirion. What are your names and where do you come from? We didn't realize there was a lake to fish in in this room. Before a magical mishap it was dry; do you happen to know anything about where the water is coming from?"

Diplomacy 1d20+6

That roll doesn't help.

It doesn't hurt, either.

The Owl shrugs at Kaseem. “We think it might be the big sleeper but we aren't sure.”

The Albatross gets nervous and hushes the Owl. “In case she’s listening—I don’t want to get eaten!” he whispers to Owl. Albatross grips his fishing rod as if to get back to fishing, likely as a nervous distraction.

They are clearly not hostile or unfriendly, but you'll need to get them further with Diplomacy before they say a lot more. You can also try to get them to hand over the scroll fragment since they're not outright hostile.

”Clearly you two are much better fishers than us. Heck, we even forgot our fishing poles! But, like I said, if you’d be kind enough to let us have that scrap of paper, we’d be on our way, letting you catch all kinds of things in here without us butting in on your spot!”

Diplomacy 1d20+8

Owl looks down at the fragment in his hands. “But, we caught this prize. Why should we give it up just to have to work for more catches?”

No attitude change this time.

What do you do?

”How about we have a swimming race to see who gets to win the piece of paper? I’ve not had a good swim off in a long time!”

Diplomacy 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

Yulau plans on casting MonkeyFish to get a nice bonus, if accepted.

"We know what a fish looks like, elf-lady! Nice try! We know this isn't a fish, but it seems important." The owl waves the fragment around as he hollers.

The Professor manages to keep her expression neutral as she drops the floppy, soaked treatise back into the dark water. Well. They are not stupid after all. Or at least, theirs is a different brand of stupidity. Very well. Different tactics are required. "I was simply trying to get into the spirit of things, since you two seemed to be enjoying yourselves so well. I see now that I was trying too hard. That tends to happen when old ladies try to behave like youngsters. I am horribly out of practice with that sort of thing. By the way, what about that scrap of parchment makes it seem important? What does it say?"

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

"Well, I don't know about you," Jilla says loudly to the rest of the team. "But I wouldn't glance at that soggy old piece of paper even if they asked me to!" She gives the group a wink before heading over to explore the mezzanine the water's pouring down from.

Trying some ygolohcysp esrever.

Bluff: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

”How about we have a swimming race to see who gets to win the piece of paper? I’ve not had a good swim off in a long time!”

Diplomacy 1d20+8

Albatross looks down at the already receding water, which is now at inches.

Can you shrink us down to mega-tiny size so that we could make use of this water? He gives Yulua a clearly-sarcastic look

Recall two of your party unclogged the drain allowing some water to recede. Not that 1 foot of water would have been good for swimming :)

"I was simply trying to get into the spirit of things, since you two seemed to be enjoying yourselves so well. I see now that I was trying too hard. That tends to happen when old ladies try to behave like youngsters. I am horribly out of practice with that sort of thing. By the way, what about that scrap of parchment makes it seem important? What does it say?"

[dice=Diplomacy]1d20 + 2

That result gets them to friendly. The reverse psychology doesn't directly work, but the Professor's manner seems to.

The Owl reads it again and frowns at it. He hands it to Albatross, who remarks “Eh, it doesn't make a lot of sense to us. Maybe you can make more sense of it. You seem to care so much. We should get back to catching real fish anyway. While we do that, we can tell you all about the crazy stuff that's happened to us until we got here!“

Albatross hands Molvil the fragment and casts out his rod. Owl continues their tale.

“Firstly, we spent much time journeying through the belly of the Big Sleeper.“ Albatross nervously hushes Owl again before letting him continue. “It seems like a lot of things are coming out of it. Maybe also that smarty-pants dog-cat thing. Whatever his name was. He scared away the good fish before taking off!“ They both make derisive expressions about the individual they refer to.

New scroll fragment added to slide 3.

What more would you like to say to these two before moving on? When you do, are you going up or down the spiral staircase?

Kaseem climbs the spiral staircase going towards the area over the mezzanine to find the source of the water.

Smarty pants dog-cat thing? You know this dog-cat thing? What is this Big Sleeper? Kalak looks very confused, but follows Kaseem up the stairs to check out the top level, waiting long enough to hear if there is a response to his questions.

"Ah! Why thank you!" Professor Masaendri sloshes forward to accept the scroll fragment and briefly inspects it as Owl begins spinning their tale. Hm. More drivel.

Recognizing a term from the first scrap of scroll, the Professor looks up at the gathlains. "Yes, I'm particularly interested in the Big Sleeper. Is it a metaphor, or perhaps an actual creature? And you say you journeyed through its belly?"

Yulau nodded. She too would like to know more about what information these creatures held.

Since questions are still being asked of the gaithlans, let's wrap that up first.

Smarty pants dog-cat thing? You know this dog-cat thing?

The gaithlans look at each other, unsure of how to describe the individual.

No, it's not really either of those things. A different animal altogether. But, like us and like you he stood upright.

Then the questions about the "Big Sleeper" come and both of them get nervous again. The lean in towards all of you conspiratorially and whisper.

She is a very large fish. I think she can produce infinite water! Be very careful if you go to see her...

The pull away from their close whisper and get back to their fishing rods.

Any more questions for them before moving on?

Kaseem climbs the spiral staircase going towards the area over the mezzanine to find the source of the water.

Do others agree with this direction?

Yulau was fine with climbing the stairs after getting the info from the creatures.

Yep, Jilla's happy to keep going. Those fisherfolk aren't going anywhere, so we can always backtrack if we need to talk with them more.

"Interesting. Thank you for the warning, your time, and the scrap of scroll. Good luck with your fishing, gentlemen. Now, I believe our group will be investigating the source of that waterfall." The Professor nods toward the stairs and sloshes with a purposeful gait to stand near the foot of the stairs. Turning back to the Pathfinders, she asks imperiously: "Who will volunteer to lead the way?"

One last thing before we head upstairs...

Perception 1d20 ⇒ 9

Yulau was focused on the task at hand and her attention was focused on climbing the stairs.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20

As the Shoanti ducks his head to climb the spiral staircase, something catches his eye, There, those appear to be salvageable, and covered with writing. he says, pointing at the undamaged scrolls floating atop the water.

Perhaps they are magic, or tell the tales of great spirits - but it seems as though this water has not faded them yet. He moves to retrieve them, and then realizes his bulk won't squeeze easily past the others, so he heads upstairs to the mezzanine level.

"Ah! Excellent eye, Kalak." Professor Masaendri adroitly nabs the scrolls and gives them a once-over. "This one is a scroll of Bull's Strength, and this one is a scroll of Comprehend Languages. I'll hang onto these, as they may be useful." And perhaps as a reward for saving them, I'll be allowed to add them to my spellbook later. Excellent indeed.