Bella moved to the skeleton sprawled on the floor and bent down to retrieve whatever it had in its hand. "Oh dear, one of the scribes has fallen onto the floor!"
”I am Chandriu Invisar, Chief Scribe,” the ghost says. ”Today you are working on several important tomes for the illustrious Belcorra.”
She turns as Bella tries to get the item from the skeleton’s hand. ”No! Don’t touch that! He is mine!” she shrieks with rage, moving to attack.
The ghost lets out a despairing cry and floats next to Bella!
Zetty winces as the trick breaks down all but immediately. She calls out "Nothing's yours any more Chandriu! You're a few centuries out of date." as she starts drafting with one hand. She uses the other to toss a ghost charge at the ghost.
Bella was caught off guard by how quickly things went wrong. She tried to defend herself, stabbing at the drow ghost.
The ghost's cry overwhelms Eyenia, the dark voices in the stars that have dogged her for all her life bubbling to the surface. Too overcome with sadness, she's able to do little else.
Sobbing uncontrollably, Grem stumbles up beside Bella. Vengis' projectile misses the ghost, but Bella lands a hit, though her blade doesn't seem to harm the spirit much. Zetty's ghost charge is more effective, disrupting Chandriu's form and weakening her.
Enraged, the ghost swoops at the gnome, driving her hands into the bard's chest and badly wounding her!
Zetty hunches over in pain as the ghost's hands grip away. She staggers back to safety behind Bella, then does her best to put on a brave face "You... you guys have got this! I'm sure of it." She draws another ghost charge.
Bella admonished the ghostly drow, "How can we finish the transcription when you're doing that?!" She stabbed twice at the spirit, and then turned to heal Zetty.
The fear and sadness of the ghostly howl conquered, Eyenia resolves to deal with the ghost. She raises her hands and conjures forth a wave of positive energy, healing her companions and hopefully harming the ghost.
Even with Zetty's inspiration, Bella and Grem find it hard to land a hit on the ghost. Vengis's magic missiles slam into her, though, and Eyenia's healing proves quite effective, blasting holes in the ghost's body.
Unfortunately, the ghost decides to take vengeance on the oracle! She assaults the aasimar with her ghostly strikes, draining her life force!
As the ghost suddenly gets the upper hand against Eyenia, Zetty gasps "No! Hold on!" She focuses her magic, gluing a glob of ink to her ghost charge, and then lobs it into the air. The ink sprouts into a pair of tiny wings that try to guide the charge to its intended recipient...
...but to little avail. Zetty draws a scroll of soothe.
when Eyenia fell, Bella felt an extra urgency to destroy the ghost so she could get to her stricken comrade. She stabbed twice, and then prayed for Divine protection.
Grem flurries ineffectually again while Bella lands one strike. Vengis blasts the ghost with more magic missiles, arousing her ire. She floats over the fallen Eyenia to try to attack the mage, but his luck holds out as he manages to dodge her clumsy attacks!
Eyenia's life force continues to slip away...
Zetty calls upon her scroll's magic to heal Eyenia's wounds!
She also pauses a moment to try to recall if she knows anything else that might help in the fight against this strange ghost.
Bella moved up and stabbed at the spirit with her rapier. Then she reached down and healed her friend.
Though Grem misses again, Bella lands another hit. Vengis blasts the ghost with even more magic missiles, and at last, the spectral woman shrieks and fades away!
A search of Chandriu’s remains reveals that her +1 chain shirt is in good condition. The object she clutches is a framed portrait of Volluk Azrinae. The portrait captures the drow’s beauty as well as his imperious, vain smirk. His name appears on a tiny gold plaque at the portrait’s base. The work of art has endured the passage of time quite well and is worth 10 gp.
A thorough search of the room reveals a secret door in the east wall. Beyond, worktable covered with blank scrolls and papers sits against the eastern wall of the hidden room, while to the north stands a cabinet with several closed drawers.
Several books are held within the drawers--3 Bulk worth, which can be sold for 5 gp per Bulk.
Zetty scurries over to help Eyenia to her feet. "That... was rough."
"Looks like the ghost was obsessed with Azrinae. That was the guy behind the weird paintings and workshop we found on the ground floor, right?" Zetty wrinkles her nose "Probably now a gross ghoul or ghast or ghost or some other gh- sounding thing."
While Bella is occupied with the party's serious wounds, Zetty spends some time checking the books and papers in the secret room, trying to see what they might be about.
Bella worked to heal Eyenia's wounds, as well as taking care of Zetty's lesser injuries.
The books are on various necromantic and occult topics. The papers and scrolls are blank--likely supplies for transcribing texts.
Eyenia clambers to her feet, still a little shaky from her brush with death, ”That…that was closer than I’d expected. The other side felt so close. Thank you for pulling me from the brink.”
"After Bella's magic touch, great!" Zetty grins "Thanks Bella."
"We've only got a few more rooms to check on this floor. So, unless you're feeling really like you've got nothing Vengis, we should explore those before we go back, right?" She sketches out a simple map on her pad, then points to several areas. "There's a room to the north, then one off the main hallway, and one just beyond the room where we met Augrael. Think we can do the northern room?"
She looks between Eyenia and Vengis, trying to get their takes.
Eyenia nods, "The stars still hold much magic. My energies are strong."
"Very well," Bella relied. She led the party to the remaining door on the north.
The door here is locked, but Bella is able to get it open with a bit of work. Shelves line the walls, while what appears to be a partially completed—or perhaps partially ruined—sculpture of a sprawling city sits atop a five-foot-diameter circular table. The sculpture is of Absalom, depicted with heavy damage in several areas. The damage roughly matches what the city was said to have suffered over the centuries from all of the siege attempts it repelled, up until about 500 years ago.
Most of the books here focus on the history of Absalom’s sieges, and while many of them contain contradictory information, the collection as a whole makes cross-referencing it to determine likely fabrications easier. Anyone perusing these books finds heavy annotations in all of them; taken together, they reveal that a previous researcher was using the books to correlate the failures of prior sieges to ensure the success of a new siege.
Altogether, there are 4 Bulk of books, which you can sell for 5 gp per Bulk.
Zetty picks up books here and there, placing them into Grem's pack with a grateful nod. "There's another model! Isn't it weird? They had that one upstairs where the ettercap made his nest. I wonder if the two are the same or if one's more updated..." Zetty pages through a few books "And there was some serious planning going on here. Sure if good that the Roseguard nipped the bud before Absalom could get attacked again."
She stops to take a sketch impression of the model. She also peeks and pokes around the room for anything hidden.
"So that leaves the room near the center next?"
"Makes sense,", Bella agreed. After helping check for anything concealed, she followed Zetty to the long, wide hall, and checked the door there.
Three worktables line the walls of this room with a single stool near one of the tables. A skeleton wearing a light blue librarian’s robe lies in a heap beside the stool.
A ghostly woman in a matching robe floats about the room, pantomiming the act of repairing books. She turns to regard you as you enter. ”May I help you?” she asks suspiciously.
Zetty scrunches her eyebrows, skeptical after the party's recent experience with ghosts. Still, she takes a deep breath and asks "Hi there! We've got some, uh, books that need repairing. Do you work for Miss Belcorra?"
If that doesn't immediately flip a switch in the ghostly librarian, Zetty continues with "I was wondering what she's like. I never met her in person. Oh, and Mr. Azrinae, do you know him? I've heard he's very sharp." as she rummages about in her bag for the book that supposedly needs repairing.
"Yes, I serve Belcorra, as do all the other librarians here," the ghost says. "She can be quite intense, but her passion and genius are unparalleled. It is an honor to help her achieve her glory. Volluk Azrinae is aloof and mysterious. One of my colleagues, Chandriu, is infatuated with him, the poor dear. I've never seen him so much as look her way!"
As the ghost speaks, she constantly glances back to her tools and drifts closer to them. Her hands fidget as if she is eager to get back to her work.
Bella wondered if she could learn something useful from the ghostly librarian. She said to the ghost pleasantly, "What floor does Chandriu work on? I don't think I've met her."
"Pssst Bella! I think we did!" Zetty stage whispers with a subtle jab of her pen toward the east. More out loud, and directed to the librarian, she adds "Wow! Aloof and mysterious! Is there anywhere we could catch a peek of him, or of Belcorra? Where are their offices?"
"Oh, and don't worry, this is the last question and then we'll let you get back to work."
Eyenia is a bit disturbed by the ghostly woman's presence. Her last encounter with a ghost had ended badly after all. She stays quiet. A substantial hatred of the undead had built within her, and pissing off a ghost was not anything she wanted to do.
"Chandriu works in the scriptorium to the east," the ghost confirms. "Volluk can usually be found in his workshop beneath the outbuilding on the island north of Gauntlight Keep. Belcorra has numerous offices and living quarters throughout the Abomination Vaults. There's no telling where she might be at the moment.
"Now, please leave. As you can see, I am quite busy!"
|
Vengis had used all his magic missile spells for the day, and didn't want to fight another ghost without it.
Plus, he had a memory of a strict librarian in school. He had learned to keep his mouth shut. Not wanting to further anger the ghost, he motions with his head toward the door.
Once outside, he says "What now? The scriptorium to the east?"
"Sure thing! Enjoy your work!"
Assuming no one interrupts her, Zetty closes the door before turning to the rest of the group. "We already uh, 'spoke', with Chandriu in the scriptorium. That was the part where Eyenia almost died. And we investigated Volluk's little workshop too - though I don't think we had to fight his remains or anything. Unless they were that giant leech." She scrunches up her nose. "And if that's the case, ew, what a way to go."
"Still, I think we'll see Volluk sooner or later. Everyone who was someone down here seems to have been turned into a gross undead monster. And Volluk counts." She thinks back to the last several days if there were any ghouls that particularly looked like they might be him.
"So we just have one more chamber left then." Zetty directs the group back through the winding tunnel into C1 and then checks to see if the northern door looks particularly dangerous or unpleasant (or if it smells our sounds so).
After Zetty closed the door on the busy librarian, Bella replied, "Oh, sorry! I guess I'm having a hard time keeping track of who's who."
She followed the gnome through the tunnel, and then checked the remaining door.
Beyond the door is a hall connecting to the corridor in which you first arrived on this level. An ancient sofa with its covering torn open and its stuffing and springs revealed sits against the west wall of the room beyond the west door in this hall. This reading room contains much more than meets the eye. Secret doors in the north and south walls open into a hidden hall around the room.
This plain, angled hall has four alcoves. Each western alcove has a silvery circle of runes inlaid on the floor. A peephole in the eastern wall allows observation of the room beyond. It looks like the circles may have once been teleportation circles as well, though the magic is long gone.
Back in the original hall, you open the door to the east. Another ancient sofa is the only furnishing in this room, but the south wall shimmers with strange green light. As before, the green light begins to move and spell out a message: "Belcorra fell to the Roseguard, but we never knew of these vaults below..."
A moment later, the words slide off the wall and slither away. As you follow the ribbon of light, it up the hall to the north and then past the stairs down to this level. Here, the ribbon hesitantly climbs the northern stair only to turn around and quickly slither further east.
It leads you through the library hall and the main chamber south of where you faced Nhakazarin, finally heading down the stairs at the far east of this level before vanishing.
"Oh! Its Otari's glowy light!" Zetty does her best to quickly copy down the message and the likeness of the ribbon of light. She raises an eyebrow when it starts to climb the northern stairwell, but then hurries to follow it as it heads all the way to the eastern end o the library hall. "OK, so Otari's going the same direction that Augrael came from. But I'd say we probably shouldn't jump to follow after him."
"Its past time we got back to town and rested, right?" She gives Vengis a thumbs up.
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The journey back to Otari is uneventful, though it is quite late in the evening by the time you make it back. Having fully explored the third level of the Abomination Vaults, you feel stronger and more capable to take on the challenges to come.
Back in Otari, Zetty follows Vengis' advice - settling in for a bath and hot meal, and letting her tired fingers uncramp from all the life-and-death artistry they've been forced to endure. Mid-way through relaxing though, she remembers she hasn't checked in with Wrin. She stops at the her store and gives her a summary of the most recent adventures before returning to the inn and curling up for a long night's sleep!
The following morning, she gathers the rest of the group and sits everyone down with her sketch of the Library floor. "So we've got a lot of ways down. I think the best, maybe safest, way would be to head for the easternmost staircase. That's the one Otari took. I'm hoping that whatever is left of that guy might stick around longer next time and fill us in on what he knows."
"Assuming he's thinking at all, that is."
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Wrin eagerly listens to Zetty's tale. "You all are having quite the adventure down there! I would love to go with you, but... I'm rather claustrophobic, actually! I prefer to see the sky and stars above me, not a cave or low ceiling of stone! So I'll settle for the next best thing--your amazing stories!"
Before Zetty leaves, the tiefing performs another star reading to guide her.
***
The next morning, Grem is late to breakfast. When he arrives, his expression is conflicted. He explains that he received word that several members of his family have traveled to Absalom and are expecting to meet him there to discuss matters of his inheritance. Much as he would like to stay and continue helping you explore the Abomination Vaults, his familial duty calls. He bids you all a very fond farewell and wishes you luck on your continuing adventures!
***
Fortunately, you don't have to wait long to find another recruit to join your party. The arrival of a hulking orc warrior last night is the talk of the town. The word is that she's looking for a challenge for her martial and magical prowess.