Bibi continues to shoot at the wisp she can see (the blue one)
Carrufikus keeps Peldur in the fight, digging deep for some healing. Bibi fires a trio of arrows. She can tell that if she just could score a half decent shot she'd hit it again. If.
ROUND 4:
Bibi (52/52): Miss
Peldur (63/83): Go
Ghost: Go
Tal (51/66): Hit
Carrufikus (68/68): Heal
Will o'wisp: TBD
Elena (39/39): TBD
Noroc (55/58): TBD
Location: Belcorra's Retreat
Wisp: 7
Bibi scores a well placed arrow!
ROUND 4:
Bibi (52/52): Miss
Peldur (63/83): Go
Ghost: Go
Tal (51/66): Hit
Carrufikus (68/68): Heal
Will o'wisp: TBD
Elena (39/39): TBD
Noroc (55/58): TBD
Location: Belcorra's Retreat
Wisp: 21
Taking advantage of Tal's maneuvering, Peldur continues to throw punches and kicks at the wisp.
Peldur's opening strike lands, but his follow ups are off.
Peldur's shadow continues to fight as the ghost animates it to help the party:
for
Now visibly flickering, the wisp lashes out in succession, starting with Peldur (since his shadow isn't available.) and then moving to the elf.
But it can do nothing!
ROUND 4:
Bibi (52/52): Miss
Peldur (63/83): Hit
Ghost: Hit
Tal (51/66): Hit
Carrufikus (68/68): Heal
Will o'wisp: TBD
Elena (39/39): TBD
Noroc (55/58): TBD
ROUND 5:
Bibi (52/52): Go
Peldur (63/83): Go
Ghost: Go
Tal (51/66): Go
Carrufikus (68/68): TBD
Will o'wisp: TBD
Elena (39/39): TBD
Noroc (55/58): TBD
Location: Belcorra's Retreat
Wisp: 42
Bibi keeps on firing
Peldur keeps on punching.
Elena concentrates on the summoning magic, willing the giant fly to continue its feverish biting.
She then moves closer and whispers a spell to shield herself.
Elena's summoned help misses, as do all three of Bibi's arrows.
Peldur find better luck, punching the core of the wisp. It's enough to snuff it out forever!
Before conversation can start among the party, the ghost beckons you towards him, "HEROES! Oh my goodness heroes! Come! Come! Let's catch up, because I've got a story that you wouldn't believe.... and I've got a big request. Oh, and you should loot my body, I certainly don't need this stuff anymore."
How much can my shadow get up to without me? Peldur ponders before jumping en garde.
Hey! I'm not dead yet! Don't listen to my shadow! You're welcome to my clothes, but you're not taking my coin!
Peldur quickly realizes it's the ghost on the island, and not his own shadow doing the talking.
The ghost speaks again, "I promise, I won't hurt you. You're the first friendly faces I've seen in .... ages? What's the date anyway?"
"We're in the month of Pharast, 4721 AR," Elena provides a quick answer out of pure reflex. "What's the last date you remember?"
"Ohhh..... That's.... awww man. I've been dead for a long time now. I... I don't know when I died. I don't even remember much about who I am. I remember my name. I remember.... ohhhh I remember THIS place. Name's Ilvashti by the way, Otari Ilvashti."
"Just to be sure... are you the same Otari who was a member of the Roseguard? Who fought Belcorra in this place? Because if so I can say that we've heard of you."
<--Eff you up the rumper, Dicebot. All the way up.
Bibi blinks a couple times, starstruck
"Yes, Spirit. Tell us as much as you can of yourself."
HEARD of you?!?! There's a whole bleeedin' TOWN named after you!! Oh, wow, this is...I'm just...can you...wow.
Bibi calms down a smidge, but it clearly still elated. I'll tell you what...can you give us what you know, and maybe I can help you along? The Roseguard is a bit of a hobby of mine, maybe I might have a few tidbits that jog your memory??
"You are the one and only Otari? Did you know that they named the town after you?"
"You are the one and only Otari? Did you know that they named the town after you?"
in sotto voice I just *said* that!! You trying to steal my thunder???
"I just *said* that!! You trying to steal my thunder???"
"Oh no, Bibi. I was not trying to steal your thunder in any way. I just wasn't sure if he even knew the accolades that were bestowed upon him. Maybe I also get a little nervous when I meet famous people, even if they are just ghosts."
"Well, THEY didn't name the town after me.... *I* named the town after me. And yes, I'm THAT Otari."
The ghost then sits down, legs crossed, and invites the party to do the same.
"I recall little of his life. My time as a child growing up in Absalom and my adventures with the other members of the Roseguard have dwindled to distant... but pleasant memories. I know that my fear of the devastation Belcorra plans to unleash upon Absalom is what keeps me shackled to this world as a ghost. Hence why I WANT you to take my stuff. If you can end her, I can finally find peace."
"It's also in my best interest to tell you all that I know. I just don't know what I know and what I don't know. You know?"
He stops for a minute to double check that he said that correctly before continuing, "Belcorra harbored a grudge against Absalom and intended to use her sinister lighthouse, Gauntlight, as a weapon against the city. The Roseguard never discovered its actual use, other than that it had something to do with the ability to transport creatures across significant distances and could animate the dead with its light. None of the other Roseguard members knew about the Abomination Vaults beneath Gauntlight. I learned about them only in my last few days alive."
"I wonder why Belcorra held a grudge against Absalom. Well, I've seen that sinister lighthouse, but I don't think I realized how dangerous it was. I just thought it had some awful creatures living under it. How deep down does Belcorra live? Do you think we will find her within a level or two? Do you know of any way to defeat her?"
Tal glowers.
"It sounds as if Belcorra plans on transporting an entire army of The Un-Dead within Absalom's walls. Such a fell surprise attack... Thousands would die, and each new death would add to the attackers' numbers. The city would fall!"
Recall Knowledge +9 for Arcana and Occult... What sort of magicks would be at work here in The Gauntlight?
"Belcorra herself is now a ghost, although she cannot move far from the site to which she is anchored. I can sense her somewhere deep underground and I sense that the range of her movements is slowly expanding. You will be hard pressed to go further below. The way is blocked."
He closes his eyes and tilts his head back. When he speaks, he does it from that same posture, "She is using the life forces of defeated foes to keep people from going deeper, blocking progress deeper into the complex. Fortunately, I know how to take the barrier down. We, the Roseguard were the adventurers who finally killed her, and our psychic resonance can drop the barrier. You must find and place four icons the Roseguard once held dear onto the altar in a room to the north of here to do this. My thieves’ tools are here with my bones and serve as my icon. The other icons are the broach belonging to the cleric Aesephna Menhemes, the spellbook belonging to the wizard Zarmavdian, and the trusty longsword of the fighter Vol Rajani."
He looks back at the group, and towards Tal specifically, "Belcorra intends to fully reactivate Gauntlight and use it to begin her long-delayed attack on Absalom. She must be put to rest before she can finish this task. I'm not sure how to stop her, but I believe that clues await discovery in the deeper levels of the Vaults. I can't rest until it's done, so you can always visit me."
Tal is pretty sure that there are a LOT of different magics at play here.
"I admit that I had already come to the same conclusions regarding Belcorra's desires and her method: the lighthouse is a truly potent weapon. What had stopped me was how to reach Belcorra. Now we know we need icons of the Roseguard."
"Outside of the tools, where can we find the other items?"
"I.... don't. When I died I... I can't sense their presence anywhere. I'm sorry. I don't think I know anything else can help you right now... but I'm hear adventurers. I'll always be here, at least until you win the day."
"I cannot thank you enough for all that you have shared with us. I know that with Desna as my witness, I will not rest until we have slain Belcorra. My friends are all good people, we will see this task through to the end."
Noroc pulls out Finley's Promise . Just making sure, this isn't the sword we're after, right?
"We should secure the altar, and systematically explore all the areas we haven't yet. We'll need to find a way to destroy that Wisp."
Having partially recovered from her bout of Fangirlitis, Bibi chimes in Papa, I think that, now that we know it's there and we know the layout of the room, we have a better chance. I mean, our biggest problem before was that we couldn't bring everyone's strength to bear at once in the narrow corridor. But, maybe we can either lure it out, or all rush into the room, since we're familiar...yeah?
She says all this while still glancing frequently at the celebrity ghost.
But we should rest before we try, at the very least.
"But we should rest before we try, at the very least."
"Bibi, I'm glad you recognize my limits. I do my best to keep you all alive, but here in these abominable vaults, it is easy to tap into all of my healing. A rest is always helpful."
"Agreed. I too could use a rest, and I think doing some planning with a drink in hand is a good use of our time."
Bibi beams at Elena. You had me at "drink in hand!!"
"That's not it. Hehe... though I think it funny to picture him wielding a shortsword. Yes yes. Get some rest. Something tells me that meeting me just triggered a... bit of chaos in your lives. But please don't rest too long. Belcorra must be stopped!"
We won't be long, we promise. We'll see it done! And chaos is our collective middle name.
The juxtaposition of a ghost's enthusiastic wave, his melancholy expression, and the fact that it's a ghost causes a few headshakes before leaving. This deep in the ruins means about a one hour walk back to Otari...
DOWNTIME
Bibi: Go
Carrufikus: Go
Elena: Go
Noroc: Go
Peldur: Go
Talborel: Go
Elena recognizes the name as Ayla Lathenar, the dead wife of the Otari Market merchant, Keeleno Lathenar.
on the way back, Bib suggests Maybe we should bring this amulet back to Keeleno.
Indeed, magical studded leather armor, a magical dagger with a serrated blade, and a small silver skeleton key which also radiates magic.
As they make their journey back to Otari Elena takes a few minutes to to study each magic item.
The process takes her all of three minutes.
Only the dagger divulges its secrets. It seams Otari was armed with a dagger of venom.
Elena commits to studying them further the next day, realizing that she needs a good night's rest first.
She makes it the first task of the morning.
The armor is a nice Studded leather +1. The style is quite old, and no one makes it with shoulder pieces like that anymore. The Key is also quite interesting, it's a sneaky key
Bibi touches the leather reverently. Oooooohhhh...do you guys mind if I use this?? It looks a little heavy for me, but I think I'm OK with that...
she pulls her hand back quickly. ..unless someone else wants to use it. I mean, as long as it gets used, yeah?
Man, this dungeon sucks. Where's all the treasure?! I was promised treasure. I'm pretty sure I was. And my awesome shadow isn't my shadow but some old dead dude? Lame! And now we have to save Abslum?! Who probably won't even reward us!
Peldur kicks at the dirt.
I'm gonna go see if Magiloy has something brewing that'll kill me.
Carrufikus spends a day working with the children, teaching them about butterflies and how to open themselves to luck in their lives.
DOWNTIME:
Bibi: Go
Elena: Go
Tal: Go
Tal heads to the bookstore to look through the new serial releases, and to find information about that wisp that nearly ended the team.
Bibi writes a simple note:
we found this in Gauntlight, and all agreed you should have it.
She wraps it, and the necklace, in a clean cloth, and brings it to Keeleno's place. She finds an opportune time to drop the bundle somewhere where he'll find it in short order.
then, Bibi does The Thieving Thing (level 5)
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