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Finishing her preparations, Kit begins an encouraging performance with a dead spider. Then the cotton comes out and the fog is shredded like cotton candy being shared by a pack of preschoolers.
Wait. It IS cotton candy and it disappears quickly into Kit's mouth.
For yucks Kit casts haunted fey aspect to give her a little defense (DR 1/cold iron) and because it is fun to look like a slavering otherworldly fox.
Rakesh's arrow sails through, but does some damage on the way.
Kit inspires courage and looks a bit deranged.
--Round 1
Kitoro (DR 1 / CI)
Ehm
Kyra
--Round 2
Roderick
Rakesh
Ansha
Fog (red outline, -52 hp, +DR x1)
Spider (green outline, -78 hp, entangled 1/1)
Roderick throws one bomb, and when the explosion clears, the mist is gone.
---
The Pathfinders easily move throught the rest of the wing, searching for signs of the fugitive.
On the hand is a ring of counterspells and the fingers grasp a +1 adaptive composite longbow [+2 Str]
There are four sections that can be investigated.
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Rakesh slings his bow onto his back and congratulates his companions for a job well done.
"Well done, my friends. Everyone alright?"
He looks at each of his companions in turn.
"Good. Nobody hurt. Let's take a look around."
He begins searching around the room .
"I found something. Come, take a look."
He points at the floor underneath a table.
A human arm, severed just below the elbow, lies under one of the library tables. The flesh is cleanly cut, as if the sudden appearance of a magical fissure caused the wound, and the sustained magic of the area has kept it relatively fresh.
On the hand is a ring of counterspells and the fingers grasp a +1 adaptive composite longbow [+2 Str].
"That's a nice looking longbow."
He says as he looks at the bow in admiration.
That wound is too clean...almost like it was severed magically. Perhaps a magical ward or trap of some kind was activated...I daresay even a fabled blade such as a vorpal sword might not make such a fine cut. Kyra says as she examines the arm.
Hmm...and the arm is preserved...very odd...Ansha, can you tell of there is a magical aura on the arm? Your training far outstrips mine... she asks as she heads to the Astral section.
Those who have investigated a room can investigate a different room and open a different spoiler.
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Rakesh picks up the bow and pries the ring from the finger of the severed arm.
"Anyone want these? The bow is finely crafted similar to mine. This ring is magical. Anyone?”
Rakesh looks at the others before letting his curiosity take over. He slides the fine, delicate ring onto his finger. It magically increases in size to fit his large clawed finger comfortably.
He follows Kit into one of the alcoves and takes a look at the books on the wall.
"Hmm. More books. What are we looking for?"
He pulls a book from the shelf and flips through the pages.
"I have no idea what any of this means."
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"Sure, I can take the ring. I do adore accessories."
Kit heads off into the room on demiplanes, admiring the ring on her finger, thinking it is not much to look at, but it is VERY magical. So there's that.
"Nothing but more books in here guys. Though these books look pretty interesting. Adventures it looks like for the most part, but also informational ones too. Not sure if any of them are fiction."
Kit starts browsing though the ones she can read.
For research, I have:
Knowledge (arcana): Ehm primary (23), Ansha secondary (22)
Knowledge (planes)
Linguistics
Profession (librarian)
Unassigned: Kitoro, Rakesh, Roderick, Kyra
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Rakesh thinks back to the times when he had to write essays and reports while taking classes at the Pathfinder college. There were several times he visited the library for research materials and would get assistance from the librarians. He would follow them as they pulled the books he needed off the shelves for him and show him around. Maybe that knowledge will help him this time as he peruses the books on the shelves as he explores each section.
Kyra tries to see if any of the massive tomes she studied at the abbey taught her anything.
Roderick finds nothing but books in the Astral References section.
The first day of research is very productive.
Rakesh learns someone here was researching the Dimension of Dreams. Pages have been torn from some books, only to be used as bookmarks in others. Notes on the torn pages reference literature contained in the Lower Planes Archive elsewhere in the sealed wing. According to the registry, one book on the Dimension of Dreams is missing: the Libram of Forgotten Dreams. This book purportedly contains dozens of rituals pertaining to that realm.
Ansha figures the researcher veered away from the Dimension of Dreams and toward seemingly random books on Abaddon, the Abyss, and Hell. She has underlined unrelated passages and circled chapter numbers.
Ehm finds the nameless researcher’s investigation eventually became haphazard and inexplicable, though with patience it becomes clear that she was attempting to decipher some sort of encoded message—some of which earlier patrons of this library left in the margins of books.
Ehm and Ansha start piecing together most of the code.
After a night's rest, the group returns to the library for a second round of research.
Knowledge (arcana): Ehm primary, Roderick/Kyra secondary
Knowledge (planes): Ansha primary, Roderick/Kyra secondary
Profession (librarian): Rakesh primary, Kitoro secondary (10)
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Ansha sighs and stretches as the party makes its way back into the archives. "Nothing like a night out to make you want to sleep in a little," she says. "Shame I never caught his name. Ah, well."
With a shrug of her shoulders, she gets back to work, opening the old tome she had left off with last night.
Ansha finally pieces together the entire decoded message, which indicates the location of a hidden passage in the Astral References section () and the location of the trigger mechanism concealed inside one of the bookcases.
---
With a soft click the bookcase swings out quietly like a door. An ancient spiral staircase—just barely wide enough for a person to traverse—lies behind the hidden door and ascends at a steep, unlit incline. Scratched into the stone walls is graffiti in dozens of languages. At the top of the staircase, a stone archway opens into a cramped vault with four-and-a-half-foot high ceilings held up by squat, stone columns. Dozens of small nooks line the walls of this confined space, filled with musty old pillows, dust-covered books, and ancient cobwebs. Old candles, long unlit, sit in pools of congealed wax alongside empty lanterns. Two low-ceiling corridors lead off in opposite directions. The entire secret space gives the impression of being a refuge from the rest of the library, a quiet place to study or socialize that has long since been forgotten.
A single pair of footprints in the dust leads down one winding corridor. Near the back of the network of tiny rooms, someone has cleared the area of cobwebs, created a chalk diagram on the floor, and assembled a ring of candles that still burn with heatless flame. An enormous tome — the Libram of Forgotten Dreams — lies open atop the diagram. Many notes and comments have been scrawled in the margins of the tome.
Scattered around the room are items left behind - a scroll of breath of life, a cloak of resistance +4, two pinches of dust of darkness, and a (non-magical) amulet of polished obsidian beads worth 10 gp.
The candlelight gradually grows to an unnatural intensity. Soon, a shimmering form of golden light blossoms into being, taking the form of a Garundi woman in regal robes and with the symbol of a winged eye hanging around her neck. The apparition first takes on a stern, chastising countenance, raising one hand in the air as if to castigate everyone in the room. Then, as her luminous eyes register her many guests, she adopts a less aggressive posture.
“Heavens blessed,” she whispers. “You’re not the same guests at all, are you?” While clearly some form of spirit, there is no visible malevolence in this phantasmal woman’s eyes. Rather, she overflows with a palpable aura of compassion and concern. “My name is Aliyas Ardenvaugh, I am—I was—curator of this wing of the Forae Logos. It... It’d been so long since I’ve seen another soul. Now so many guests in just a short time! How unusual. Are you peers of the woman who was here? Three twenty two?” She wrinkles her nose at the name.
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After finally decrypting the code, Ansha walks straight over to a particular bookcase and presses the hidden mechanism therein. "Well, found where our quarry ran off to," the enchantress says, seeming even more pleased with herself than when the party reconvened at the archive.
Following the rest of the party into the hidden passage, Ansha notes the chalk circle and the large book with interest. I wonder if I can get a copy of that thing to study at home, she muses to herself.
"Ah--I see, I see," Ansha says, nodding her head in the direction of the tome. As the light grows in intensity, she frowns, brows furrowing in concern. As the Garundi-looking woman appears, the elf's eyebrows rise instead in mild alarm.
A flicker of recognition crosses her face, however, and her brows settle themselves as her alarm fades. "Ah, a prana ghost. I've got to admit I've never met one of your kind before," she starts with a winning smile. "No, no, we're definitely not associates of whoever was here last. I'm Ansha, and my companions and I are actually chasing that woman for the Forae. She's been naughty, you see. Probably why she gave a name like 'Three twenty two.' Can you tell us what she looks like? Or where she went? Maybe how to find her, even? Any help at all--or maybe you've seen her with a certain magical lantern? She stole that, and we're hoping to get it back."
Can you tell us what she looks like?
Aliyas describes 322.
maybe you've seen her with a certain magical lantern?
“Oh my, yes—a grim-looking thing! It flickered with such an unusual light, and she would talk to it, ask it questions. If it responded, I could not hear. But the questions were seeking advice regarding a ritual she was intending to perform — specifics of arcane study and magical insight. She only asked one question that was not of a practical nature: ‘Do you forgive me?’”
Or where she went? Maybe how to find her, even?
"She performed a ritual found in the Libram of Lost Dreams, which put her to sleep. Eventually, her body and possessions simply faded away. I feel she was drawn somewhere else by powerful magic.”
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Kit hangs back as the 'experts' do their thing, ready to help with a performance, should anyone need a concentration bonus or something.
"How long ago was that and how long did it take her to fade? Guys, I have a bad feeling we may need to pursue her into the land of dreams before this is over, which, I assume, is where she went considering the nature of that book. But before that we should explore around."
Kit gives the cloak a too-good-to-be-true look and leaves it alone, always ready to flip between cynic and optimist.
A ritual to cross over to another realm or plane? Interesting... Kyra says as she listens intently to the ghost's recalling of the encounter.
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Rakesh looks up in surprise when he hears the bookcase opening to reveal a passage.
"Well done, everyone. Let's see where this passage goes to and where our quarry went."
Rakesh takes the lead, following the footprints in the dust with his keen senses.
The sudden appearance of the spirit startles Rakesh. He quickly draws his blades and gets in a defensive stance. Realizing the spirit is benevolent, and friendly, he sheathes his blades and listens to what she has to say.
"Are you peers of the woman who was here? Three twenty two?"
Rakesh's beady snake-eyes go wide in shock.
"Three-Twenty-Two? She's here!?!"Rakesh glances at each of his companions.
"I've been hunting that elf ever since the Grand Convocation. That lantern she carries contains the soul of Aram Zey, the Master of Scrolls, whom the Aspis assassinated at the Grand Convocation. And she asked him for forgiveness! Bah!"
He scoffs.
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Rakesh introduces himself and bows in an ostentatious manner, obviously enamored in the lovely librarian. He looks down at the tome lying on the floor then responds to Roderick.
"We need to follow her into that book. Let's perform that ritual."
He turns back to Aliyas and bows respectfully.
"I thank you, milady, for your assistance. If there is any more you can tell us about this ritual or the book, I would be more than grateful."
"How long ago was that and how long did it take her to fade?"
"Concepts of time are difficult for me to grasp, but I believe it was several of your days ago, and it only took a few moments for her to fade."
A ritual to cross over to another realm or plane? Interesting...
"Not just any plane - the Dimension of Dreams. It is not represented by any one particular person’s dream, but rather the raw psychic essence of that plane — into the untempered echoes of memory between dreams."
Rakesh glances at each of his companions.
"I've been hunting that elf ever since the Grand Convocation. That lantern she carries contains the soul of Aram Zey, the Master of Scrolls, whom the Aspis assassinated at the Grand Convocation. And she asked him for forgiveness! Bah!"
He scoffs.
There is not a lot of information in the scenario about 322.
So do we wait here or give chase or what exactly should our next course of action if we are still charged to apprehend said fugitive?
"We need to follow her into that book. Let's perform that ritual."
"If you wish to follow 322, I would be proud to offer assistance! I once studied the Libram of Lost Dreams when I was alive, you see, and I am familiar with the rituals therein. With your assistance, I could send your consciousnesses into the Dimension of Dreams to the same untempered dreamscape that 322 sought. What awaits you there, I do not know.”
She pauses before adding with a half smile, “But isn’t the chance to find the answer exciting?”
"If there is any more you can tell us about this ritual or the book, I would be more than grateful."
"I know the Dimension of Dreams is a place of great wonder and just as great danger. Those who travel there in dreams can use their will to effect great and impossible change to the dreamscapes around them. Those
that travel there bodily have no such gift, and risk death... or worse."The Dimension of Dreams is a plane with the highly morphic trait, which allows some visitors to perform incredible feats by sheer force of will.
---
Aliyas describes the ritual call Reflection of the Memory Pool.
Performing the ritual takes 50 minutes and requires one primary caster attempt three Knowledge (arcana) or Perform (sing) checks and three Knowledge (planes) checks. The caster must succeed at five of them.
As she does not intend to travel to the Dimension of Dreams, Aliya cannot act as the primary caster, but she will automatically Aid ().
---
Vibrant, billowing smoke streams forth from between the pages of the Libram of Forgotten Dreams. These soporific clouds churn furiously like a tornado, swallowing up the entirety of the room. Between the wisps of clouds, the Archive Absentia begins to fade away, and with it Aliyas. What was once the Archive Absentia of Forae Logos is now a crumbling stone lodge with a sagging, dilapidated roof. Half of the lodge is simply gone, crumbling away into a barren gray rock. Beyond the lodge’s walls lies an infinite sea of muted rainbow-hued clouds that churn above and below. A brilliant red-orange sunset glow comes from one end of the flat horizon, though no sun is visible. In the opposite direction, the horizon is a curtain of impenetrable darkness. What remains of the world appears to be little more than an island of stone set adrift on a cushion of swirling clouds. Huge pieces of jagged stone float weightlessly in the sky beyond — some of them studded with crumbling statues of elves in armor, others carrying mighty coiled serpents of carved stone that embrace the fragmented islands.
Enormous mirrors rise at skewed angles, having ruptured through the nearby stone surface. These mirrors reflect the dreamscape around them, but curiously, not any creatures.
The mirrors do not show the Pathfinders’ reflections. Rather, anyone who looks into a mirror sees swirling, indistinct shapes of events both real and unreal.
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Kit shrugs, taking it all in with a measure of acceptance.
"Well, the place is supposed to be all about dreams and dreams are, well, weird. So where do we go now. Or is there even a where?"
she shouts.
"Say, didn't someone say that if you will it, it can happen? Should we will ourselves to where she is? Or maybe conjure up a flying ship?"
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Rakesh peers into a nearby mirror.
"Dreams."
He whispers, then turns to his companions.
"I think these mirrors contain dreams. Maybe we can find 322 in one of these. She went to sleep before entering this realm, so her dream must be in one of these mirrors. She's a pale-skinned elf wearing a black hooded cloak."
As Rakesh peers into the closest mirror, some humanoid figures begin climbing out of other mirrors.
;+4 if heightened awareness active
; +4 if burning heightened awareness
--Round 1
Roderick
Kyra
Ehm
Rakesh
Ansha
Kitoro
--Round 2
Red Figure
Yellow Figure
Green Figure
Blue Figure
Ansha quickly recognizes these as dream eater soulsilvers, evil outsiders that hide in the half-dimensions behind mirrors. They can move through mirrors - as a standard action, they can crawl into any mirror, or crawl out of any mirror within 500 feet of where they last entered. Their natural form is a blob of silver, but they can assume the form of any creature they've spied on through the mirrors.
They explode when they die, sending shards of glass in a 20' radius.
They feed on the dreams of their prey, causing Charisma damage and boosting their own psychic pools (which they can in turn expend on boosting their strikes).
Mechanically, they are immune to mind-affecting effects; resistant to fire and acid; and weak to sonic.
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"That's her!"
Rakesh shouts.
"Actually, they're all... her."
Rakesh is confused by all the 322s coming out of the mirrors.
He quickly draws his bow and fires two shots at the green tinged 322, hoping to get the rogue tangled
He suddenly gets an idea...
"Ansha! Can we also travel through these mirrors?"