Pelligrina cast her spell, the thing was supposed to have a weak ming, but she felt her spell bounce right off it.
<--- PASS
Valeria paused uncertain of what to do.
Lope however knew practically everything there was to know about guardian scrolls and buoyed by this knowledge he exploded into action. His sword flashed out, scoring deeply into the paper! Cyrene's dagger flashed out too but the point of her blade scored a line rather than digging in deeply causing her to frown Still all of a sudden the scroll was looking rather ragged!
Triphylla ran to join the battle, and Julia...
Valeria didn't know what exactly she could do to help in a fight like this other than maybe get in there and slice it. As cramped as it was that wasn't likely to happen so she thought for a few seconds and then had an idea. Paper did not do well when it got wet so maybe that would be the best answer. She cast a prayer forth and called for water and four gallons of water promptly appeared right above the animated scroll and fell towards it in a deluge.
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Julia couldn't help but let out a yelp as the living scroll slipped past her guard and slashed her arm. "Gods! How in the Nine Hells can that dusty thing be so sharp?" The bard of course doesn't linger on the question for long, and despite her wounded arm, reorients herself for another magic-laced thrust of her rapier.
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<--- HIT
Valeria's lateral thinking / desperation paid off, four gallons of water slammed into the scroll drenching it and the ink on it began to run...
Taken aback by the sudden deluge, Julia's thrust fell short. The scroll was still terribly sharp despite the water (in time it would get soggy) and it slid painfully over the bards skin, wrapping her up like a mummy!.
<--- HIT
<--- YES
Environment: Normal brightness
Buffs and Debuffs:
Julia Bleed 1d2
Scroll
Pelligrina
Valeria
Lope
Cyrene
Triphylla
Julia Bleed 1d2, Grappled
Scroll
Pelligrina
Valeria
Lope
Cyrene
Triphylla
Damage Log:Round: 1
Julia was hit by Guardian Scroll for 4 (total damage taken 4)
Guardian Scroll was hit by Lope for 14 (total damage taken 14)
Guardian Scroll was hit by Cyrene for 1 (total damage taken 15)
Guardian Scroll was hit by Valeria for 8 (total damage taken 23)Round: 2
Julia was hit by Guardian Scroll for 2 (total damage taken 6)
Julia was hit by Guardian Scroll for 7 (total damage taken 13)Totals:
Julia: 13 damage
Guardian Scroll: 23 damage
COMBAT ORDER:
Julia
Scroll
Pelligrina <----- WE ARE HERE
Valeria
Lope
Cyrene
Triphylla
Pelligrina, Valeria, Lope, Cyrene, Triphylla and Julia are up, the scroll is almost done for!
Cyrene tries to cut the scroll without cutting Julia and ends up achieving not much of anything.
"Valeria, that was amazing! Do that again!" Triphylla hesitates to swing her blade with the overgrown receipt wrapped around Julia. Hopefully she won't have to.
But her hesitancy causes her to miss badly anyway.
Pelligrina gives the animate scroll a nasty look when she realizes her spell has failed.
Seeing her outstanding success and heading Triphylla's request Valeria once again attempted to dump water on the scroll.
Lope waits to see if the water is enough. Then tries to cut through the scroll damaging Julia as little as possible.
Pelligrina gives the scroll a look that would curdle milk but nothing seemed to happen.
<--- PASS
Buoyed by her previous success, Valeria repeated her spell but Julia was thrashing around trying to get it off and the scroll was only hit by the spray from the water hitting the ground.
Lope then sliced into it, finishing it off and wounding Julia in the process who collapses from the accumulated blood loss. The room is a complete mess now soaked with a mix of blood and water.
COMBAT OVER
Valeria was relieved the scroll died, even if her spell didn't work as well as she expected. Unfortunately the next instant her relief was shattered as Julia fell, bleeding out on the ground. "JULIA," she yelled as she rushed over and began to pray. When she finished she touched her glowing hand to the worst of Julia's wounds and hoped it would be enough.
After Valeria's ministrations, Julia coughs and splutters and her eyes flutter open.
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Julia opened her eyes weakly, still reeling from nearly being murdered by a sentiment piece of paper if all things. Despite the pain when she sees Valerie's worried face she does her level best to reassure her friend. "Well then... guess that water trick really paid off, eh. Should have known you'd come up something brilliant like that, Val," she manages to wheeze out through a pained smile.
In truth, the near death experience was honestly rather traumatizing, but the bard hardly had much in the way of time to truly process it. It would have to just be another thing she'd have to deal with after getting out here. As such after a moment the bard stood up and tried to catch her bearings the best she could.
Valeria was greatly relieved when Julia came to and gave her a glare as she said, "Do not scare me like that again." She cast another spell and touched Julia's injuries again to heal her some more.
Lope quickly kneels to check on Julia when the scroll is destroyed, and is relieved when the woman breathes again after Valeria's touch "Valeria Blessed Hands" he smiles happy to see Julia stand up "Are you ok? Sorry for hurting you, I really did not want to but could not let the scroll keep strangling you..."
When it is clear Julia is ok, Lope examines the rest of the scrolls in the case.
After a quick reading of the scrolls he says confidently "My mentor, Eldon Garcia, taught me about this magic. These are scrolls of dispel magic, invisibility,mirror image, and mount. Seems there was a real trove of knowledge here lost"
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Once Julia was back on her feet, the door to the south was tried. It wasn't locked but moisture had swollen the door timbers so it was necessary to use considerable force to open the door. When it was finally shoulder barged open on the fourth attempt it exploded open to reveal a large chamber with towering rows of bookshelves. Down the middle there's a low shelf and countertop running the room’s length.
A stench of damp and mould pervades the room, and at first you were worried about oozes and the like but it turned out to be the books. They'd gotten wet due to ground water which infiltrated via cracks in the wall and had by and large been turned into mush as a result. You notice a slight gradient in this room, the south end is a bit higher and drier than the northern end.
The door to the south opens much more easily, into a small bone dry room lined with cold metal lockers. Desiccated papers protrude from the few open units, while the rest of the lockers remain tightly shut. Thick metal bolts connect additional lockers to the walls here. Some of the lockers reach up to the ceiling about twenty feet above.
Floating in the middle of the room, is a strange winged creature/automaton with a central sphere of bronze and copper set with a single eye. It has two clawed hands, one of which clutches a knife.
It hails you with an androgynous voice, "This unit is Factor 12. Greetings, are you here to make a deposit or withdrawal or to peruse a book in the reading room?" It indicates the closed door to the west.
"We may wish to make a withdrawal." Cyrene replies, apparently amused by the creature. "What items are available, and what sort of thing would you accept as a deposit? I fear we don't have much time for reading at the moment."
Lope helps push the first door open, then whistles seeing the content in books "The Senate really needs to take care of this area and open it to the public, I am sure there is a trove of information that can bolster the knowledge of Taldor Empire in the future."
The Aldori goes on through the room to open the far end with the others.
He blinks after spotting the copper flying sphere "An Arbiter Inevitable!"
"We are merely looking for a key, but just as we are here, any document on the laws of inheritance of the Empire or the habits and customs of nominating a new heir to the Empire would be of great use for us"
Julia's grave injuries shake Pelligrina, leaving her feeling even more unsettled and continuously under threat than before. She resorts to casting an assisting cantrip on herself every minute, over and over each time the previous casting expires.
She recognizes where they are at, and it excites her.
"We're in the old Senate Archives now! These books and documents are among the oldest, rarest, and most important one in Taldor's history. We need to tell someone what we've found when we are outside again. All of this should be recollected and saved so it isn't lost forever."
Amandine raises a small protest against Cyrene's claim that there is no time for books.
"Maybe just a little time to look around? We couldn't fail to find worthwhile things."
Of course, this archive represents the human history of the Empire, which interests Triphylla not at all. She casually runs a finger over the lower row stacks of bindings, looking for anything unusual while ignoring the Arbiter.
Julia took in Valeria's glare with the seriousness it demanded. "You have my promise that I've do everything my power not to, Val."
Once the group arrived in the book-ladden room she sighed. The history of the Empire was never Julia's favorite subject growing up and she lets the others try and figure out what secrets or clues these mostly turned books held while she does her level best to spot anything else useful. Suffice to say she was in no mood to be around scraps of paper given recent events.
Factor 12 responds to Cyrene in a monotonous voice, "You may make a withdrawal but first you must agree the rules. Only one item may be withdrawn at a time. I used to allow two, but after the recent spate of thefts I've had no option but to crack down. You must sign a receipt for said item below"
It indicated a quill pen and a scrap of parchment before carrying on, "Which I shall file. You have one week to return the item, and may I remind you there is a daily late fee."
When Lope mentions a key, Factor 12 interjects, "Yes the archives contain a key, described as dual custody lock key. We also have several confiscated items which may be loaned out: a cloak, an axe, an armoured breastplate, and some boots. Is there an item you would like to withdraw? If so please sign below, LEGIBLY!"
"We'd like to loan out the key please." Cyrene says, stepping forward and signing the paper. Anyone who bothers to read it will see that it's signed 'Lamashtu, Queen of the Abyss', but in exquisite penmanship!
"Mmm... we might lend some boots? Can I see them, maybe they look good with my outfit. We need to think on causing an impression once we get out of here whole and alive" Lope smiles looking at his vest, and seeing it is still in good condition despite the whole day on it.
"Because... what happens if someone does not ever return what is lended?"
"I think the key is our best choice. If it doesn't work as we hope it will, we can come back and exchange it for something else."
"Even if it does." Cyrene adds. "Opening a lock doesn't mean you have to open the door too."
Factor 12 starts filling out the forms (in triplicate) to loan the key, but when Lope mentions borrowing other things he responds in strident tones, "ONLY one item may be loaned at a time, per group. As I stated there has been a spate of thefts and policy has shifted to crack down on abuse."
He then inspected Cyrene's signature and admonished her, "I see we have a bunch of jokers here. If you want to borro anything I'll need your real name, not that of some she-b*#~# goddess."
Cyrene sighs and steps back.
"Someone else will have to do this. It seems the curator has no sense of humor."
Seeing that the curator wasn't exactly going agreeable to her friends needs, Julia tried her hand at getting the key for them. How exactly? Well by lying obviously. "No need to worry, Cy. I got this."
Walking up to the curator, the bard gave it a dazzling smile even as she wrote the name Dolores Celestine Sophia Aubigini in its ledger. "I'm quite a fan of cloaks myself but I must say that given our current circumstance having that key of yours would be preferable, so how about you pass it over? We promise to hand it back once we're finished with it."
As the others spoke to Factor 12 Valeria sat at a nearby table and pulled out a small sketch pad and a charcoal stick. Where she was keeping this in her dress was anyone's guess but had it she did. She began to sketch of the inevitable in as much detail as she could in the time she had available.
Valeria ignored Cyrene's attempted joke and then Julia's attempts to lie to it and continued her sketch. She wasn't sure she could do the thing justice, not really, but she was determined to do the best she could. Hopefully things wouldn't go off the rails and devolve into a fight with the others antics, or so she would think if she was paying enough attention to realize what they were up to as she finished the sketch.
Triphylla finds what she believes to be the largest tome in the archive. With great force, she pries it from the stack, rolls up her sleeves, and attempts to deadlift it over her head.
She makes a great show of it to amuse herself, but in the end the mighty halfling is equal to the feat.
She leaves the book where it lay; only librarians may re-shelve books!!
Lending an ear to where Cyrene and Julia are attempting to hornswaggle the Arbiter, Triphylla wonders at the need for deceit. Why on earth would they want to keep this key once they had used it? Likely she would never understand the motivations of humans. At least she knew better than to trust any of them.
Pellegrina becomes impatient with all the useless chicanery.
"Why does a simple transaction like this have to be so hard? Is everyone allergic to doing the simple, normal thing even when there's no point in not doing it?"
"Well said Dolores" Lope smiles trying to cover Julia on her attempts to avoid the Inevitable scrutiny.
Factor 12 seemed to regard 'Delores' with suspicion but then it relented, "Very well then Delores, please see that you return this key within a week. If you don't a very strongly worded letter will be sent to the senate!"
Meanwhile anyone who saw it thought Valeria's sketch looked pretty good, but she wasn't happy with it. Outside Triphylla managed to surprise herself, dead lifting a mouldy tome that likely weights as much as she did or more.
Indulging her idle curiosity Cyrene slips away to poke her head into the western room before returning to the rest of the group.
"So, we ready to get out of here?" She asks, giving Malphene a sultry look.
"Gods yes! I'm starving!" says Triphylla, almost running toward the doorway they presume to lead out of this dreadful tomb for Taldor's long lost glory.
Valeria looked at her finished sketch as the others were ready to go and decided it wasn't her best work but it wasn't terrible either it was merely...adequate. She added the name Factor 12 underneath the image and then put her personal mark in the lower right corner of the image. With a careful tear she removed the image from her pad and approached Factor 12.
"I am afraid this image does not do your likeness justice but it is the best I was able to manage in the time I had." She held the paper out to Factor 12 "This is a gift for you, Factor 12, in appreciation for your help and as an apology for my prankster friends."
Once she was finished with that Valeria moved away to the others and caught Cyrene's look at Malphene and smiled slightly in amusement. When she got a moment to speak to Cyrene she leaned in close and whispered something to her before moving along with the rest of the group.
With the dual custody key finally in hand, Julia made it out of the archives with the rest of the party back to eastern door that had troubled them before. Taking in a breath the bard slotted in the key and prepared herself for whatever was on the other side. "Alright... let's see what's on the other side, hmm."
Lope too, checks what is in the western room before joining the group into opening the locked door with their new acquired key.
Pelligrina continues to employ her survival strategy of staying carefully in the middle among all the better armed people.
Malphene gives Cyrene a needy look back and she whispers something in her ear.
Lope found nothing interesting in the western room, it was empty bar a circular wooden table and several chairs are arranged in the center.
The key Factor 12 lent the party fits perfectly into the dual custody lock, and with both of them found unlocking the door was simple although it required two hands.
Cyrene is busy running through all the delightful scenarios her companions are creating in her mind and completely misses anything happening beyond the door.
"Ha! And once again we open the way" Lope exclaims satisfied as he hears the second key unlocks the door.
"Accepting any bets on whether we find the stairs out here?" the Aldori waits a bit to see everyone is ready, including the nobles, then says a short magical word and conjures four dancing lights before opening the door.
In a flash she produces the mutagen flask from her belt pouch and drinks the bitter liquid, becoming more muscular, but also growing fangs and claws. That's new.
"B$*#%!~s! Invisibility spell! To Arms!"
"Wait!" Cyrene demands, thrusting out a hand to block the halfling's path. "Invisibility lasts a few minutes at most. We should wait here for five minutes, force whoever is on the other side to give up their advantage or waste more magic."
Clearly she's dealt with spellcasters before...
"What do you mean invisibility Trhiphylla?" the halfling's actions puts Lope even more alert, the Aldori unsheathes his rapier and readies for combat before he opens the door.
Once the door is open, his first action is to send the dancing lights forward so all the group has a good view of what's ahead.
Valeria smiled slightly at Cyrene's response to what she said and left things be for now.
As they continued to explore and found the locked door Valeria waited patiently while it was unlocked.
Valeria didn't hear what Triphylla did but she did hear Triphylla's warning. Valeria considered Lope's question and asked softly, "How does invisibility work?"
Pelligrina hears nothing at all and wonders what all the talk about invisibility and such is about.
"What's going on?"
Pelligrina's question is met by silence from the other side of the door.