Freedo looks slightly forlorn that no amulets, fur caps or secrets seem to on the offering, takes one last look at the party, "I shall return to you, oh gracious one" and takes off , one black feather left behind.
Rollo studies the shape of mount Folsh and neighboring peaks, comparing the landmarks to those mentioned in The Song Of The Place Of Stones. The others also look out over the snow landscape.
As she comes in she hears the comment about Amulets from the large Bird.
"I have something like that you may like"
She reaches into her pack and brings out this Lanyard strap
She gives it to Rollo.
Rollo graciously accepts the token for Freedo.
Well isn't that quite sporting, Lady Lyra.
He presents it to the Raven.
You by chance noticed who or what made those tracks two-three days ago?
Seeing the shinny strap, just as he's leaving, Freedo jumps back and takes the proffered item, doing a hopping little dance on his other foot. He then tosses the thing in the air, opens his mouth impossibly wide and swallows it. "Ah shinny! For that, two secrets! Tracks, three days old? Goats? Bears? Which tracks? Freedo knows the tracks - they go straight to mount Folsh. They were made by little people, four of them, like this one" points to Parish. "Little people, all dressed in colors, had all sorts of shinnies and would not share. Playing tricks. Almost cooked Freedo's goose they did. Also, dragon Renette seeks to avenge it's mate Mythia - very angry. I know other secrets" Freedo is looking quite pleased with himself.
She takes a metal dragon father from her hair and hands to Rolllo.
"Try this"
Paritosh points at himself, "like me? I don't suppose they have any bonnie lasses with them?"
Rollo shakes his head.
It seems that our destination is widely known. I suspect that there are many others seeking the same thing.
The Sage then motions to the trap door.
Shall we?
She slips the father back into her head dress.
"Arlo can you get this open?"
She swings her back on and checks her revolvers.
"Bird you come find us again, we may have more things for you"
Arlo shrugs slightly. The dwarf gets down on all fours and looks at the door very closely.
Freedo shrugs, if birds can shrug, then jumps down and flies off to the West, making the call of a normal raven.
Arlo carefully removes the thin rug covering it and looks carefully at the trap door. It is granite and nearly invisible, yet he notice a remarkable series of small stone tabs on it, all nearly the same color and movable. Looking around the tower, you can see that there's space for an understory with several rooms to be concealed in the rock or the door might only lead to a small cubby.
It's remarkable thing but opening is going to require someone with an understand of complex mechanical devices. Arlo looks at Lady Lyra.
Outside, it has begun to snow.
As Arlo looks she gets down and inspects the lock.
Taking out a kind of flexible tube-like device she inspects the nooks and cracks. Then she takes out a small Magnet, moving it around.
+2 Urban, +FE Bonus
"What do you make of those flashes of red on the far side of the mountain? Brimstone? Dragons?"
Rollo watches the red flashing sky.
Seems like the natives are restless.
Arlo looks up to the skies and grimaces, holding his greataxe near.
She looks, takes out her scope, and looks down the advanced targeting system. Trying to work out a distance and scale.
"I suspect Dragon fire, explosives don't make flame like that"
"Alright shows over lets get this door open and out of sight"
She works on the door.
Lady Lira deftly manipulates the door's internal mechanism, feeling the proper movements of tabs and the device unseals from the surrounding stone and hinge up and to the side - as this is happening, Rollo, his magical senses already up. feels a flood of greater magical power from below; old, earth-based creation(conjuration) magic. As you look down into the darkness (with all of you having variation of dark/dim light vision), you see a single, largish room (35' x 65') with stone shelves on all sides stacked with parchment, instruments and devices (fragile seeming things), two large tables in the middle ... and floating/levitating above the tables are two creatures, resembling sort of nightmare fish with giant, tooth mouths (like a distored angler fish but with fins weirdly misshapen). They're ~12-15 feet long but seem to glow and shrink in size, clawing at space and time itself...
These are "parasite spirits", they live on powerful magic left unattended - akin to mold on jars but more inconvenient. Great magic or a long time would be necessary for these to have grown this big but they're really not intelligent - they're generally hostile and aim to defend whatever store of magic they're guarding (and leeching off of). They can't go too from their "source" here. Normal magic probably would effect unpredictably but dispel magic and similar spells would do damage (D6/level). And weapons can harm them.
Arlo whispered, "What are they?"
"Weird magic experiment?"
Rollo explains what they are viewing.
She takes out her two revolves and loads them with cold Iron rounds.
"Can't use explosives here, so, Looks like we have some pest control to do, any anyone has anti-magic?"
She checks them and gets ready,
"I bet any magic you thought up they will eat"
Her tattoos glow as her shield comes up and busts her speed.
"My axe is anti-magic", Arlo says with a gneer. "Or if they're evil, my longsword will do. Let me check."
The dwarf concentrates and cast detect evil on the ..'magic fishes'.
"Right here we go"
She studded one a moment then
DMG = 43 cold Iron
Her guns blazed
Four of Lady Lyra's five shots connect with one of the fish-like-things but one shot misses as the thing's shape slightly shifts. The shots that connect seem to do significant damage, opening a couple large gashes in it. The shot that misses hits something on one of the shelves and a soft globe of brown-red light floats up and towards the center of the room.
The fish-like-thing that Lady Lyra didn't target charges at the ceiling-opening that she was firing through, bullrushing her aside and "swims" into the center of the room that party is in, making an angry gurgling sound - the thing's "fins" are apparently razor sharp and Lady Lyra takes 6 points of slashing damage from contact.
The fish that was hit stays below and seems to gulp down most of light-globe, seemingly healing a bit from this (but far from fully).
"Close combat weapons only, let's keep what we can safe"
She puts her guns away and pulls her combat blades.
The wound she sustained seems to heal itself.
Rollo removes himself from the area. The Sage allows his more physical companions handle these magic-stealing fish.
I shall just take a bit of a stroll. I am not comfortable being this close to these parasites.
The dhampir winks.
She says to Rollo without taking her eyes off the fish.
"I am a machine, not magic, and this is going to be dirty work, so yes you best keep clean"
She shows her two blades, one an Adamantium Combat long Knife the other a Cold Iron Knife, and spins them, crouches, and readies an attack.
Then she puts her knives away and re-pulls her revolvers.
Arlo advances on one of the guppies and cuts deep into the monster with his waraxe.
Rollo yells from afar
I am wondering if we could use these against the Dark Traders? Lady Lyra; can you send our bosses a recording of these; along with my report? We may need to build a containment unit for travel.
"Ill help with the repost yes, Maybe if we had more time we could capture them but right now..."
Where was Paritosh? thinking this Switching targets [move action] she offload on the one now flying above the other
Paritosh will move up and swing at a wounded "fish."
Background: The party is on the main level of an ancient tower half way up mount Folsh. You had a brief encounter with a talking raven Freedo and then opened a trap door leading to, apparently, some kind of laboratory or workshop, where two noxious magic-parasite spirits in floating-fish form resided. Lady Lyra shot at one, released some magic stuff and the other spirit swam up to attack.
Now: the fish thing bites at Paritosh, doing 19 points of damage and grabbing (grappling) him. It then "swims' down to the lower level with the plucky gnome in it's toothy jaws. Both of the fish look fairly beat-up.
Arlo gets an attack of opportunity as the fish leaves.
"Don't break Any more of the artifacts, they feed off the magic and heal"
Paritosh will attempt to break free...
Rollo winces as he watches the gnome get taken downtown!
The dhampir sighs. He then rushes back into the chamber; casting a Dispel Magic at the Fish eating Paritosh!
Arlo takes one swipe in the one fish-thing as it escapes back down to the laboratory, further injuring it. Then as Paritosh struggles futilely to get free from the twisting jaws, Rollo rushes up to the top side of the trap door and casts his dispel on the thing and it explodes - into fine, gray dust (Paritosh, reflex save 15 to land on your feet).
Seeing this, the fish-thing opens it's giant jaws and flies wildly at Rollo ... missing him entirely and flying up into the center of the room, making gurgling sounds and spinning madly (trying to intimidate but not really succeeding).
Now it was clear she let the thing have it.
This time she had its mark, as it opened its mouth She shot its brains out.
It convulsed and her other shots went wide.
+2 vs Illusions
Paritosh will gather his wits and get back with the group.
Rollo opens his blue eyes once he hears the sweet, sweet sounds of Lady Lyra's instruments!
Never doubted you for a minute.
The dhampir then looks down into the chamber that good ol' Paritosh is now fortunate to be in.
Stay there. You can search the place for fun stuff!
The Sage will cast Detect Magic to point out the cool stuff...
She cracks open her Revolvers, collecting the empty shells and tucking them away in her pack. Then methodically she reloads with lead rounds.
Placing them back in her holsters she says.
"It's all your Rollo, Arlo, you want to see if there is another hidden way down there, Paritosh you need some healing from Arlo?"
She waits at the top as the others have fun.
Paritosh finds a ladder down to the now quiet basement laboratory in the rough, nameless tower the party has been exploring (this is after you've been there for no more than ten minutes). Once the ladder is attached, Rollo descends and begin the process of magical evaluation.
The material Rollo finds are ... interesting. Most of what's down here is sealed "raw elemental" rock, minerals and fires, stored on stone shelves set into all sides of the large room. Essentially magical ingredients that can be used to greatly enhance the area of effects elemental evocation spells such as wall of stone. While this is enough for "just" a hill about a mile in diameter, it occurs to you this world-building material, the entire area you are in, could have been shaped with material such as this. The elemental stone is in the form of long rods, the elemental metal in cubes and the elemental fire in various bottles and jars. There are also more obscure ingredients that aren't magical in themselves.
Who created this and stored it here? Your guess is some form of worker-elemental, these are the forces that often shape worlds in the magically oriented axes of the multiverse. Such entities get sloppy sometimes and leaving this stuff lying around is a fairly sloppy move. It might be harmful in the wrong hands.
This entire stock, if somehow transported intact to Sigil, could fetch between 20K & 100K gp but would require effort to sell there. The total weight is maybe 2000 pounds (actually quite light for the total volume).
...and one more thing Rollo finds is a set of three magic keys (not for the trap door).
Lady Lyra keeps watch as the others search the laboratory. At after about a minute, she notices another crack of dragon fire and then immediately afterward ... projected with light on the background clouds for just a second, she sees an odd symbol, a jester's head with a glove and an eye-piece, connect by a line, next to the head. The rest of the party continues their search for at least half an hour and there are no further signs. Goats walk up and down the glacier, seeming to find things to eat here and there in the snow.
She notes odd Symbol and taking out her recording device makes a quick sketch of it.