"Hmmm... I suppose that I could turn a blind-eye to this... on one condition: I long for the day that I might travel beyond the library, and request that if you happen to find a worthy receptacle to house my magical essence, that you bring it to me. You will know it if you see it.
As a token of my good faith, take this." So saying, it spits a small metal key out of it mouth. "This will open the doors that lead to the eastern side of the complex; that is where they store the rarest books, but I should warn you - the library's blind caretaker lives on that side as well, so be prepared."
"I Alden Darkcrown would be honored to fufill your request. Great Guardian." Bowing, he moves towards the doors at the end and will push it open upon the party signalling him to do so.
Opening the door reveals a 5' by 10' antechamber, and then another door. Opening that reveals a long stone hallway terminating in an ascending spiral staircase to the north. Doors line the hall on the east and west.
Anaduno nods, and points to the door closest to the stairs, matching it with a questioning look and moving his hand back and forth from a thumbs-up to a thumbs-down and back.
Two rows of tall bookshelves flank the imposing yet beautiful wooden desk that presides over this room. Over the door hangs a portrait of Grand Prince Stavian III, portrayed wearing an especially smug grin. A plaque beneath the portrait reads: "“A cunning lie is never told twice”.
The people searching the room may give me Linguistics, Knowledge(History), Profession(Librarian) or Craft(Bookbinding) rolls against a lower DC, or Perception checks against a *higher* DC. The highest roll counts as the primary, with everyone else who beats the DC (regardless of what skill they use, so please only give me one roll) giving a +2 to the primary result. Your success on this roll determines how many 'clues' you find in the room.
At present, Tophor is the primary, and has found all of the clues for this room, so it does not matter for here, but please try to remember the 'searching' rules :-)
1d7 ⇒ 6
You find the following clues:
Taldan Cipher 1: This text describes a cipher in which one must read the message backward, reading only every third letter; all other letters are ignored. The example the book provides is “RMNEB SISWD IILPL OTRSES,” which means “soldier.”
Taldan Cipher 3: This text contains an example of an encoded message that uses a common substitution cipher (in which each letter represents a different letter). It claims that “DQFIZ KPIED WZYWS QIVKO ZKXFW ZIMVT DQFXW CFPAF PDFZ VFTJF” translates to “The orcs of Tar-Baphon circle around the lake’s western edge.
In addition, on the desk you find two vials containing magical fluids.
Hyrgan starts to reach out to closely the examine the vials then jerks his hand back. "Hold on. We should not take these. It would prove that someone has been here." Would it be possible to do a spellcraft check on something that you are not holding to figure out what it is?
Hyrgan leans in towards the vials on the desk to examine them.
Vial 1Detect Magic with Spellcraft:1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23
Vial 2Detect Magic with Spellcraft:1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15
Hyrgan takes note of the two new Taldan Ciphers.
"With these we now have three Taldan Ciphers. We should keep looking for these ciphers in other rooms, in case there are more. So next room now?"
Yes, you have now found all three parts of the Taldan faction mission ;-)
Anaduno is able to identify the second vial as an Elixir of Vision.
Moving along to the next chamber...
...Bookcases cover nearly every inch of the walls in this room, which is only faintly illuminated by small lights set into the ceiling. A glass-paned door, locked with a simple lock, seals each panel of shelves, keeping the ancient tomes stored within free of dust.
In addition to the standard checks, you can also use Appraise in this room. Additionally, all checks receive a +2 bonus.
Perception DC 20, separate check to any Perception 'search' rolls:
You notice that loose pages in the centre case on the east wall seem to flutter slightly, almost as though a draft were blowing over
them.
Please let me know if you open that case whilst searching.
Searching the room.
Linguistics:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22
More searching.
Perception:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21
Hyrgan will check the center case for traps.
Perception:1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21
If he does not find any traps he will open it.
...same roll?
Alden still stays the same position from outside the doorway letting the more skilled one of his party handle it.
Aid Another
Perception 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (12) + 0 = 12
Sorry about the delay, guys; you have just triggered a combat, so I was wanting to get the map fixed, but Google Docs has been playing up :-/
Hyrgan does not discover any traps, and easily opens the case... but as soon as he does so, the books within animate, and explode from the sealed bookcase in a typhoon of paper, enveloping the nearby people!
Based on descriptions, Alden is at the door, and Wadreskus is searching the room, out of reach, but Tophor, Hyrgan, and Anaduno are hit...
Tophor: 1d6 ⇒ 2 damage, + 1 bleed, and given me a Fort save.
Hyrgan: 1d6 ⇒ 4 damage, + 1 bleed, and given me a Fort save.
Anaduno: 1d6 ⇒ 2 damage, + 1 bleed, and given me a Fort save.
Hyrgan is Nauseated on his turn, and may take only a single move action, as he is distracted by all the paper-cuts (to be fair, 'Bleed 1' is a significant paper-cut!) ;-)
