Each fires another round, making another large dent in the statue.
Round 2!
Each (sickened 1/1)
Suussmaar (sickened 0/1)
Cephalopore (-55 hp)
Adumariel
Tsadoc
Suussmaar fires several arrows, but only one hits. It would have pierced the jugular vein had the statue been a living being.
---
The statue uses its own head to swing at Tsadoc once and Each once.
vs Tsadoc
plus DC 18 Will Save
vs Each
plus DC 18 Will Save
Round 2!
Active conditions: Bless
Each (-18 hp, Will)
Suussmaar
Cephalopore (-69 hp)
Adumariel
Tsadoc (-20 hp, Will)
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Each deftly deflects the statue's attack just slightly off course with a whip of his rapier and a small shift to the side. The shift turns into a spinning attack as the Commodore drops his pistol and draws the shiny steel revolver he used against the kobolds. He strikes out with the rapier and finishes with two shots from the large bodied pistol, his coat billowing out dramatically from the spin.
After the first shot however there is an anticlimactic click!.
Each parries the shot, and steps up. His combination of rapier and pistol then dent it enough so that it powers down. Adumariel sends a bolt of electricity at it, and the statue goes inert.
Suussmaar saves some arrows!
---
Final tally:
Each
Suussmaar
Adumariel
Tsadoc (-20 hp)
---
The images in the mirror appear bored and disappear as they realize you don't die. A wand with a smudge of blood on it lies discarded at the foot of the nearest stairs, dropped by a previous victim.
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Adumariel pats Martin by way of thanks, then moves toward the Cephalopore.
A loud whump shakes the floor as Martin's spiked tail responds in pleasure.
The druid pulls a magical stone from his pocket offering it's magic to the injured.
"Just me? OK.
Then he pulls a shiny new wand, and makes sure all the party can find things here in the library.
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"I have a knack with wands, I can take it"
"Thank you Tsadoc, that's most thoughtful. I'd say being able to understand any language would come in handy here! I spy some interesting looking books up there, shall we make a start? With due caution of course."
Adumariel makes her way up the stairs to the north west, taking care to look out for traps as she goes.
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The druid follows the occultist up the stairs as he stows the wands. Hoping he will see something about animals up here, or maybe catalogue of cards.
"I forgot to ask, Adumaral. What was your last mission for the Society like? Get to read any interesting books? Ouch! Even Martin didn't find the joke funny, judging by the application of a spiky tail to the druids backside. "OK Ok. But seriously did you get to meet any cool creatures?"
Nobody sees any traps along the path.
---
The shelves on the platform here serve as an index detailing the rest of the library’s collection. Unfortunately, most of the catalog seem to have been badly damaged by one or more small explosions. There is a cleared spot on one bookshelf marked by the kobolds. It appears as if something roughly the size of a bucket had rested there until recently, then removed.
A half-scorched sign written (in Tien) hangs next to the bookshelf, which Adumariel translates: “Please allow our librarians to help you reflect upon the lessons of antiquity.”
On the table, scattered papers include a list of books Hao Jin had checked out and speculations on where she might have gone, but it seems whoever was compiling the notes purposefully spoiled their own work. “Don’t try to find her!” is written large over everything else.
The notes include a list of books Hao Jin took out and then returned:
• 723.1 The Manual of City-Building
• 340.5 The Application of Justice in a Well-Ordered Society
• 895.7 The Eagle’s Twin Hearts
• 623.3 Walls and Ditches in Siegecraft
• 352.4 Administering to Public Health in Large Cities
Other scribbled notes:
“When Hao Jin didn’t return, we pored over her research notes and tried to find her with the library’s scrying mirror. It didn’t work, and we saw some kind of monsters instead. They pulled Jing through the mirror, then came crawling out wearing his shape and attacked us. We fled back to the main floor and broke the mirror of translocation to stop them from following.”
“Breaking the mirror wasn’t enough; somehow the monsters can still squeeze through each of the six shards. If they hadn’t taken Jing, he would probably know how to banish them. It seems breaking the mirror didn’t destroy its magic. If I were fool enough to challenge the monsters in their lair, I could probably just fit the pieces back into the frame.”
“This place isn’t safe anymore. We’re packing what we can and heading out into the tapestry to try to find a way out, or at least somewhere we can live.”
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"Be careful Sussamar, you might get trapped in there with the monsters. I wonder if the librarians made it? I hope we can ask the other communities or maybe the kobold tribe knows something about them?
Tsadoc will have Martin guard the nearest mirror, from a reasonable distance of course.
"Hmmm. A scrying mirror and a translocation one. Did I read that right?"
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Adumariel looks around the books on the shelves here, particularly for any of the listed volumes, but failing that anything that might prove to be a valuable resource.
"It does sound like two mirrors, one for scrying and one for translocation whatever that might be, perhaps we can find them elsewhere in the library"
After a last look around for volumes that should be saved (and after grabbing the list of volumes and the other notes), Adumariel leads the way west.
"There should be a kobold trap around here..."
She looks intently for the trap that's labelled on the kobold map, then proceeds to the next area.
There are no volumes of texts in the area - this area is only the card catalog.
This section showcases a great variety of book sizes and binding methods, with everything from sheet music, pamphlets, and scrolls up to weighty compilations. Art with poetic captions and works of calligraphy hang between the bookcases.
Each and Adumariel notice a large jar of acid balanced precariously on one of the freestanding bookshelves, such that walking near it is enough to make it fall.
Commodore, Adumariel, and Suussmaar all spot a librarian looking through a mirror fragment on the railing.
Adumariel puts the jar back on solid footing. The librarian in the mirror looks disgusted, and disappears.
The jar of acid is large enough that three acid flasks can be crafted .
---
This section is labeled, "895-896 Literature in Tien and Garundi Languages."
DC 18 Will Save:
Adumariel looks through the books and selects 250 lbs of books to fit into the bag of holding. [250/1500] She's about to throw a valuable book into the "to be burned" pile when Suussmaar's spell helps her to see through the illusion. It's "The Eagle's Twin Hearts."
Tsadoc obscures the fragment with soot so it's not reflective any more.
The party also finds a shard of a different mirror. It looks to be about one sixth of a complete mirror, that could be reassembled if all the pieces were found.
---
A three-tiered pyramid towers above this section, the sides of each tier draped with ancient maps and flags. A gleaming scythe blade juts out from between two bookshelves in the northwest corner, and the floor beneath it sparkles with fragments of shattered glass.
Adumariel is the only one to spot a very well-hidden pressure plate (). It looks like it connects to a chandelier above.
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"Hold!"
Adumariel calls out just in time.
"There's a pressure panel there. Let me see if I can disable it, stand back"
She drops her goggles down again and takes out her tools, trying to disable it.
"OK I think it's safe, let's see what we can find"
She begins looking over the books in this section.
Adumariel immediately recognizes this as a variant of the classic old kobold standard “rotting badger under a falling rock” trap: treat a decaying badger with alchemist’s fire, and hide it in a washtub under a layer of sand and fine gravel to keep it from igniting and to disguise the odor. The entire fixture was raised up to ceiling using a chandelier hoist and set by a hidden string to drop its contents when a creature steps on the loose floor tile beneath it.
She disables it easily.
This section is labeled "620-629, Engineering".
Designing Walls and Ditches to Resist Siegecraft, one of the books on Hao Jin’s list, can be found in this section. The cover includes a pale green map of a walled city.
DC 15 Knowledge (dungeoneering), Craft (alchemy), Craft (armor), or Craft (weapons):
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"Wow! That was close! Like a scorpion's stinger! gwing"
Afterword he begins going through the books.
T-shirt reroll!
The most valuable documents from this section of the library are recovered. The books weigh 250 lbs.
Designing Walls and Ditches to Resist Siegecraft, one of the books on Hao Jin’s list, can be found in this section. The cover includes a pale green map of a walled city.
"Have you ever seen a firefly glow? This book is kind of like that!"
The book is inlaid with viridium. Extended exposure to the inlay is hazardous, though removing the inlay, covering it with a thin layer of lead, or leaving a note for later readers can negate the danger to other Pathfinders who review the recovered books.
Tsadoc loves the engineering section and just rips through all the books, grabbing all the best ones.
The scythe in the previously-triggered trap is a usable, magical scythe. A shard of amber glass, one piece of the second mirror, lies on the floor just past the scythe.
The area looks clear, and the group begins to search through the books, labeled "350-359: Public Administration". Tsadoc beelines for a particularly expensive-looking set of tomes on top of the table, hears a click beneath his feet, and mutters, "Uh oh."
A large amount of loose soil falls onto the aisle between bookcases, right onto Tsadoc.
Oh, and ants. The dirt is full of ants. Bitey, bitey ants.
Round 1!
Commodore Each
Tsadoc (DC 25 Reflex save)
Suussmaar
Red Ants
Blue Ants
Adumariel
Tsadoc is entangled in the dirt!
An entangled creature moves at half speed, cannot run or charge, and takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls and a –4 penalty to Dexterity. An entangled character who attempts to cast a spell must make a concentration check (DC 15 + spell level) or lose the spell.
Tsadoc swings his club, and smashes a few ants, but doesn't do any overall damage to the swarm.
Round 1!
Commodore Each
Tsadoc (entangled)
Suussmaar
Red Ants
Blue Ants
Adumariel
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Commodore, seeing the swarm of ants, quickly draws a pistol he hasn't yet drawn this mission. It's grip and trigger have the same look as the double barrel pistols but the end of its barrel flares out. He rushes over next to Adumeriel, aims and fires.
A gout of flame erupts from the pistol and fans out, encompassing over half of the swarm. It also just barely stops short of Tsadoc.
Suussmaar throws some acid and Each fires a dragon cartridge.
The Red swarm begins chewing on Tsadoc, while Blue moves over and begins covering Adumariel and Each.
plus distraction
plus distraction
Round 1/2!
Commodore Each (-14 hp, Fort Save)
Tsadoc (-9 hp, entangled, Fort Save)
Suussmaar
Red Ants (-12 hp)
Blue Ants (-12 hp)
Adumariel (-14 hp, Fort Save)