Peldur steps back with sword in hand. He hands the blade over to Noroc. He sits down nearby and begins chewing on some victory jerky.
"Carman, I am wondering if Vol's sword will be able to help us battle evil in this abominable vault. I'm am not sure why Peldur is so taken with the blade, but would you be willing to lend it to us so that we may slay Belcorra?"
"Lend? Meaning you'll actually give it back? If you swear that I will get it back, and not someone else, yes. Though... what becomes of me?"
"What becomes of you? I think you should return to your shop. I'd be happy to speak on your behalf with the mayor, as honestly this seems all a bit ridiculous. Your family heirloom should be yours, and if they're really going to extract a price from you for it, then I will pay it on your behalf. But... that really ought not be necessary."
"So be it. You know, Vol, she was the best of the Roseguard and the best of the Rajanis... and I wanted to be mayor. I’ve tried four times but always lost to Oseph. If I had the sword, well—people say that it gives the town good luck! If I had it, they’d want me to be mayor so that I could give them luck. May it bring you luck before me. I appreciate your good word. If you'll really let me go.”
Before you go, Carman, how is it that Vandy claims the weapon was there "before her time" if it's yours? What are we missing?
"Vandy is what 30? 40? Vol was using that sword five hundread years ago. She means it was hanging there. I didn't want to steal it. I don't know when we lost it, but desperate times. You know?"
"There's bound to be a story about the intervening years. I would be curious to know what went on with the blade during that time. Perhaps something to research."
"So... I can just go?"
Peldur looks up.
You're still here?
"You can. Though if you prefer to continue to keep a low profile, I have no issue giving you a place to stay at our home. Assuming my companions are okay with this."
Carman picks up what Peldur's putting down, and flees the cave, leaving you with the sword. Now what?
This is one of the keys Otari was talking about, so we're going to need to hold onto it. I don't want to get involved in town politics THAT much, but I don't know if we should try to arbitrate or something. What do you all think?
Bibi muses on this while checking the cave for anything shiny.
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Bibi finds nothing else. Considering this is a smuggler's hideout more often than not, it's not too surprising - even if a little bit disappointing.
"It seems we've only one relic of the Roseguard left to find. Perhaps we can ask around Otari to see if anyone might know of Zarmavdian's spellbook."
Elena thinks that Morlibint would be a good place to start.
Elena heads off to Odd Stories. Morlibint is always happy to see the young wizard, "How can I help you today my dear?"
"I'm hoping that you can help me with finding a particularly rare book: the spellbook of one of the Roseguard, Zarmavdian. It's not something that you happen to have collected, is it? Or that you might know more about?"
"Why yes! I keep Zarmavdian’s Thresholds of Truth in my academic collection. You've done so much for me, you're welcomed to borrow it if you need it for your endeavors."
"Well done, Elena," Carrufikus remarks. "I should not be surprised when it comes to anything academic. You always find a way."
Elena smiles. "Thank you, Morlibint. I'll get this back to you soon."
Of course, Elena will then study the contents of the spellbook to see if there's something interesting to her.
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Tal completely ignores the party when he realizes they're going to Odd Stories. He immediately goes to Morlibint's clerk on duty and asks if there's anything new in. In particular, he's been waiting for the new Laws & Attraction novel, Jan Priest in The Calistrian Gambit.
Regardless of the answer, he finds a saucy, pulpy, masterpiece and a quiet corner while the mayflies he travels with finish their business.
Bibi grins at the development. I LOVE it when a plan comes together!!
Tal completely ignores the party when he realizes they're going to Odd Stories. He immediately goes to Morlibint's clerk on duty and asks if there's anything new in. In particular, he's been waiting for the new Laws & Attraction novel, Jan Priest in The Calistrian Gambit.
Regardless of the answer, he finds a saucy, pulpy, masterpiece and a quiet corner while the mayflies he travels with finish their business.
Tal finds but one book. It's so new that it creaks upon opening. The elf is confident that the last time these pages saw light was when the book was bound...
In the morning, Bibi is chipper over breakfast. I say we clear out any areas we haven't seen yet, then we let Otari know we've got all the toys!!
"Agreed. There was a room with a long table. Let's start there."
Let's boogie!!
Bibi skips along back to the Gauntlight with the group Dammit, we need a NAME!!
She leads the way to the unopened doors , starting on the upper-left/northwest door.
The walls of this chamber are lined with cupboards, shelves, and cabinets. A few barrels sit in the middle of the room. Two skeletons lie slumped near the barrel. It looks devoid of valuables, monetary, knowledge, or otherwise.
Tal loses some focus, drawn in by the old book, and he sneaks a page or two in every time they stop for more than a breath.
anything interesting about the skeletons? Like positions--how they've died, insignia, etc?
quick perusal of the room for any hidden goodies, informational or otherwise
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Bibi concludes that this room is Boring (with a capital B.)
Meanwhile Tal flips to a page with a poem written in Old Taldane. It's rather hard for him to parse out, but the opening line proves to be quite intriguing, "Paedicabo ego vos et irrumabo."
Elena will speak the words that allow her to detect magic, then steer Bibi to the next door inb the clockwise circuit. "Nothing to see there. Let's move along."
The team moves to the next door. Bibi gives the clear, but it's nothing more than a stairwell up. She also nods to the next room. A tall wine rack, its bottles thick with dust after so many years, stands against the north wall. Otherwise there's little else.
Three bottles haven't spoiled. They're likely worth 20 Gold coins each to an urbane connoisseur.
Elena takes a quick glance. "The good news is that these three bottles haven't spoiled. And given their age, could be worth up to twenty gold if sold to an appropriate connoisseur. Or we can just drink them ourselves."
"Do we want to check upstairs? Or keep looking through the doors first? My vote is the latter."
The walls of this chamber are decorated with twisting runes carved into the wall and filled with dull, silvery metal. The floor and ceiling are almost completely covered with large, polished metal discs.
"Who do we know in Otari who is a connoisseur of fine wines?"
"Do we want to check upstairs? Or keep looking through the doors first? My vote is the latter."
"I agree. We should be sure that one level is clear before we delve any further."
Carrufikus investigates the runes. First he detects magic and then tries to determine what he understands about them.
Carrufikus is confident that this is a portal to a demiplane that is the cause for all the wisp monsters in the dungeon.
Elena, however, thinks this is another teleportation circle.
"Let's continue checking the rooms. I can see about activating this circle later."
A dusty metal washtub with a small skeleton lying inside sits next to a low shelf in this room.
Bibi takes a look from just inside the door for Shenanigans
Bibi doesn't see anything from just inside the door.
"I think we need to destroy this portal. This must be the cause of all of these wisp monsters."
"No, Carrufikus. Trust me here. It's simply a portal end point for another portal within Gauntlight. We've seen others like it before," Elena says, her tone firm. "The wisps, and how they get here, are another thing entirely."
Bibi steps inside and takes one more cautious look on the floor and walls before giving the all-clear
"No, Carrufikus. Trust me here. It's simply a portal end point for another portal within Gauntlight. We've seen others like it before," Elena says, her tone firm. "The wisps, and how they get here, are another thing entirely."
”Hmm.” the gnome replies thoughtfully. ”You sound very confident about this portal. So, do you have any theories on how these wisps did get here?”
Bibi steps in, but doesn't find anything else of note.
"Last door, friends. Let's see what's beyond."
To Carrufikus she says, "I have some theories centered around Nhimbaloth that will take more research. But if we complete our searches we may find a greater truth."
An open metal hatch lies in the floor against this room’s east wall. Storage bins sit to the north and south, each heaped with old bones, broken tools, and lumps of stone.
Tal seems almost disappointed in finding an unoccupied storage room. He starts to make a cursory search of the bins and their contents.
Suddenly someone throws some garbage at Tal!
It threw itself...