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Noke is a small Wayang woman with shadowy long hair that almost darkens her surroundings. She has a mithral buckler in her hand and wears a custom-fit Haramaki suit that looks like it has been recently oiled.
Resting on top of her chest, an amulet showing the holy symbol of Chaldira Zuzaristan is visible.
Noke is sitting on a military saddle on top of a riding dog that looks like a mixture of a black wolfhound and a mastiff. It is clear that this dog can fight while carrying a rider and Noke is not really fully in control.
On Noke's shoulder you see a tiny horned lizard that has dark black scales which in some areas have a red coloring that curiously forms the holy symbol of Chaldira and glows.
Noke, her riding dog 'Happu' and her tiny horned lizard familiar 'Divune' enter and you see that Noke is somehow almost out of breath.
Noke's eyes turn white when she gets down from her riding dog and she looks at you.
"Divune, Happu and I are here to support you and bring luck into your lives ... if destiny allows!" Noke says to the team with a strange smile.
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Colin is a man of average height- though he is thin and guant, with sunken cheeks and deep, tired looking eyes. He mutters softly to himself periodically in an odd way.
Once again we are summoned! To the Blakros Museum this time! This museum is a repository of fel arcane artifacts. People who thinks they can understand and control such items are FOOLS! The owners of this museum will surely meet a dark end!
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"Is this the place?" a big northerner asks as he enters the office. "I was expectin' a whole procession based on how urgent the VC's letter sounded."
"The name's Bjorn", he offers those already present.
Bjorn is a huge Ulfen man standing over two meters tall and weighing near thirty stone of hard corded muscle. His mane of salt and pepper hair is tightly bound and braided as is a thick beard that reaches midway down his barrel chest. The northman's features are lean and rugged but marred by a nose that's been broken too many times. His eyes are a pale blue, just a shade lighter than a summer sky.
He's dressed in simple traveler's clothes; a sleeveless roughspun tunic, leather breeches, and worn hide boots. Slung over one broad shoulder he carries a leather pack with odds and ends tied to its exterior.
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Massive taxidermy creatures, replica bridges, and other sizable displays tower over the Blakros Museum’s storage hall for oversized exhibits. In the far corner, a flight of broad stone stairs leads up to a circular copper gate. The gate writhes, twists, and buckles, folding in on itself yet somehow remaining intact. Three people linger in front of the gate. One of them, a nervous-looking elven man with wire-frame glasses, paces anxiously while jotting down notes. A pale, dark-haired woman in fine clothes sits inside a complex ritual circle drawn around a trio of glowing golden beacons, holding a copper-covered scroll case covered in intricate designs. Meanwhile, a broad man with a thick mustache watches the gate closely, weapon in hand.
The elven man stops pacing and exclaims, “Good, you’re finally here. In case you don’t know who I am, I’m Nigel Aldain, Blakros Museum curator. It’s not an easy job on the best of days, and today isn’t one of them.” Gesturing toward the woman in the ritual circle, he continues, “That’s why I asked Zarta Dralneen to send assistance. She’s proved invaluable in my efforts to catalog and secure the most dangerous items, and we’ve recently been working together to make sense of this gate. The way it’s moving now is a new and unsettling development.”
Zarta Dralneen nods to Aldain, “Although Nigel reached out to me directly, given the severity of the situation, I sent word to the Grand Lodge for help. I’m quite pleased to see that Ambrus himself answered my call as well.”
Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin grunts in acknowledgment, keeping his eyes fixed vigilantly on the portal as he speaks. “Zarta’s been studying this portal for the last few months, ever since a team of Pathfinders helped resolve an incident connected to the portal and the beacons you see around her now. She’s more familiar with the portal’s nature, so it’s better for you to hear the details from her.”
Zarta looks up from the ritual circle, frowning, “As you probably could have guessed, the copper gate isn’t going to hold for much longer. With these ritual foci and the gate’s weakened state, I’ve been able to reach beyond the gate and interact with the other side. What I found is a demiplane built in complex layers, and the tatters of wards that once protected it from external threats. There is a force within the demiplane that is actively trying to open the door while simultaneously tearing gateways to faraway realms. Based upon the information we’ve gathered from the group of Pathfinders who recovered these beacons and my analysis of the gateways, what we are most likely facing is a direct connection between the Dark Tapestry and Absalom, and with it the threat of invasion from unspeakable horrors.” Zarta pauses for a moment to let her words sink in. “We can end this threat now. I’ve been calibrating these beacons to temporarily open the gate before resealing it securely, allowing a group to enter and stop the threat at its source.”
“That’s where you come in,” Venture-Captain Valsin adds. “I’ve called you here to be the group that finally sees what’s beyond that gate.”
Zarta continues, “While you are there, do what you can to study your surroundings and learn about the threats you face, but be careful. The demiplane is the creation of Ralzeros the Overwatched, a famous wizard whose studies of the stars and what lies beyond them led him down dark paths.” She holds out a small glowing orb, a miniature replica of the beacons before her. “When you are ready to leave, use this orb to signal to me. It will take me about an hour to recharge these beacons, but after that, I can quickly open another gateway. Don’t send the signal until you are finished with your work. I may be able to send you in a second time, but there is a significant chance I wouldn’t be able to bring you back, and that is not a risk I’m willing to take.”
“It is almost certain,” Zarta adds, “that while you are inside, creatures from the Dark Tapestry will escape into this room. Nigel, Ambrus, and I will handle those. The more you can avoid destabilizing the demiplane while you are there, and the more you can repair it if you find an opportunity, the better. Any questions?”
You also recognize the copper scroll case in Zarta’s hands. During the course of Echoes of the Overwatched, they recovered the item and discovered that it was connected to the copper gate and likely functioned as some sort of key, but it was unclear how it could be used.
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With the pace of a woman used to be followed comes an elven woman in regal attire. She's followed by a strange man in livery, bearing an heavy backpack.
Yes, this is the place. she says while looking around and posing her eyes on Lady Zarta.
She bows Lady Zarta. Always a pleasure.
Then ignoring Aldain she adds Pleasure to meet you all. I'm Ma'Lha. turning to the man behind her she says This is Mr. Henry, my sla... servitor. Mr. Henry, says Hello.
With an infernal smile the man open his mouth, full of far too sharp teeth
It's a devilish pleasure to meet you all. I'm Mr Henry, I can open door, carry things and I'm quite perceptive. Don't hesitate to ask for Mistress Ma'Lha to ask for my ... help.
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I told you! Eldritch horrors beyond imagine lurk beyond every corner! We may strike a blow today, but our efforts are meaningless! All will eventually be consumed by the horrors from the stars! See that you don't get yourself killed out here, I have no intentions of getting trapped with the unknowable beings beyond the gate!
Now as for your briefing - what exactly is our doomed mission? Are we simply to saunter into this plane of madness and have a look about? Find a way to destroy it? What would you have us do there? Not that it matters in the long run...
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After listening to the briefing, Ma'Lha asks
Good question human, what is exactly our purpose here? Just explore what's beyond the Gate? Find a way to definitely secure this entrance?
How long it will take? Do we need to secure some provision before we go? Will we meet only undesirable thing or do you think it will be possible to discuss with something in it?
Don' worry Master, I will protect you.
Says Mr.Henry
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Noke bows to the newcomers Ingrge, Eutrophia, Ma’lha.
”Colin, please calm down. Ma’lha and I have served the dark archives for some time now and you can be sure that we know what we’re doing. And Zarta already said that we have to prevent any destabilizing of the demiplane while we are there, and the more we can repair it, the better!“ Noke says with a grin.
She turns to Zarta.
”Lady, I just would like to know the history of the gate if possible and this caster that is behind it!“
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Zarta responds with a bit of a shrug to your questions. “If I knew more about what to expect, I would have already told you. Keep your wits about you, and prepare to face the unknown.”
“Colin isn't complete wrong though,” Nigel retorts. “It is a void where eldritch horrors dwell. Nothing good comes to those who gaze too deeply into it.”
Zarta replies, “Beyond the copper gate is demiplane based upon the principles of sacred geometry, a branch of magical and mathematical study that is known best for its complexity. It can produce powerful effects, but it is also more sensitive than most magical disciplines to slight disruptions in structure.”
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You step through the portal and find that you have entered a vast library. This chamber is lined with bookshelves, with chaotically arranged stairs and platforms offering access. The room’s shape is not constant; platforms shift and stretch to their own rhythms, while
bookshelves’ contents shuffle and rearrange themselves of their own volition. The chamber’s walls and floor are formed from black stone shot through with pale blue veins; these veins occasionally crackle with energy, as if transmitting strange impulses. Identical statues stand in alcoves throughout the chamber: the left half of each depicts a robed human, while the right half depicts an alien being with numerous arms protruding at unusual angles.
You see several human figures wandering the library seemingly at ease with the chaotic nature of the space. Each is tall, dressing a red robe with gold trim, has long black hair and a goatee with streaks of gray. All have bronzed-skin. In fact all of them look identical.
Mr. Henry says to Ma'Lha These are not real people, more some projection of an alter ego. I'm not sure it's possible to talk to them
It will be good to listen to the lady.
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“I am a reflection of Ralzeros the Overwatched, wizard, scholar, and student of the universe’s great mysteries. An echo of this library, itself the manifestation of my true mind and this is the Immaculate Geometries, space within spaces, a most carefully sequestered laboratory. Like my observatory, this place is built according to the principles of sacred geometry; so much space, angled into itself, that the unlearned may have difficulty comprehending its intricacies.”
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The mindshard gestures to the bookshelves. “My library holds the instructions to perform great rituals. Some can reactivate the Geometries’ broken wards, which once held such beings fast, while others can weaken their influence over mortal minds. Though I dare not recall it, there even exists a ritual that will cleave the demiplane from its Material moorings, leaving it to drift forever away from the universe we know.”
Unfortunately for the PCs, finding useful books is easier said than done. Ralzeros’s fractured mental state, combined with the demiplane’s distorted physics, makes it difficult to locate anything within the shifting shelves. The library is divided into six sections that the PCs can explore. By drawing upon the types of knowledge that exemplify each section of the library, the PCs can plumb that section’s secrets. Each PC can investigate one section at a time, and any number of PCs may simultaneously investigate a section. Investigating a section takes roughly 20 minutes.
As you have not explored any of the sections of the library, you do not know what is in them. You can each choose to explore a section. Exploring one section at a time is likely the safer option but more time consuming and time may be of the essence, but splitting up has its risks too.
When you have each picked out a section, I will give you a description of what is in it. You will then have to decide to delve into that section or not.
If you don't you've wasted 20 minutes, but no harm no foul. If you do delve, then I will tell you which skills to roll and you are committed at that point. If you succeed, you get a clue, but if you fail...
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Before entering the Portal, Colin will cast False life, Heroism, and mage armor.
This man is but a pale reflection of the once brilliant creator of this place! Time will diminish us all, eventually! Let us make haste and explore!
Colin will start off searching section 1. I'll use two charges of my wand of heightened awareness as I explore.
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Mr Henry tries to be flexible to help his Mistress.
But failed to do so...
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This section’s books deal largely with Ralzeros’s personal theories, realizations, and uncovered lore; unfortunately, the section also hosts numerous ramblings about the wizard’s feuds, grudges, paranoia, and other matters of concern to Ralzeros alone. Sifting through the mess requires a keen mind for history, noble drama, and an understanding of human nature.
Ingrge has a flash of insight pouring through the books:
This section holds Ralzeros’s knowledge of several of his great passions; numerology, sacred geometry, architecture, and related disciplines, as well as their connections to ancient Osirion. While the knowledge itself is notably better organized and free of misinformation, it represents particularly obscure fields of study. Complicating matters, the knowledge itself twists space around according to its principles; nimbleness and flexibility are of great use when weaving through the section’s gnarled geometry.
With a stroke of luck Ma'Lha is able to reach a book on a particularly difficult to reach shelf that offers a breakthrough.
As he fell further into the clutches of Corners of Spheres, Ralzeros became unhinged from reality, losing his ability to comprehend mortal life. Instead of continuing his research into pastlight, he took up Corners of Spheres’s interest in studying mortalkind.
Noke is able to carefully research a few leads that lead to something interesting.
20 minutes have passed. Go ahead and choose another section of the library to research over the next 20 minutes.