"We should stay together," Daehalya says. "None of the journey so far has been easy, and there's no reason to think that will change here."
She looks over the areas Zeah suggested. "I think the library makes sense to start, or the tower."
Grundle nods. "Yes. I have a book to return there anyway."
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Nicky laughs as Grundle's joke. Yeah. Returning a book. Hopefully the librarian doesn't charge late fees.
Also, if demons overwhelmed this area, i doubt there's books really left at the library anyway. But, it's a good place to start. Let's look for Gods in the pages of composed prose!
Nicky is feeling upbeat. This place is right up his alley-
He looks around.
Alvarius, who was going to suggest the library, instead keeps quiet in case folks change their mind.
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Among the crumbling stone shelves of Domora’s last standing library lie weather-beaten tablets bearing the city’s greatest secrets. You find a bevy of historical information on Domora here, including old maps and useful details about the city’s layout.
Located near the northern edge of Domora, this twostory room is the only extant area of what was once a much larger library. A staircase connects the ruin’s western and eastern halves.
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Nicky pulls out the magnifying glass and reviews everything.
DC 23 Occultism
Hey, Maps. Maps and stone tablets are useful.
Alvarius, is your moth friend- Bee- still hanging out with us, or has she become bored to the bone with you.
PUN intended!
Nicky raises a coy finger.
I'd like to ask her to see if there are other moths around this library and might know a thing or two. Being they have the home field advantage.
Daehalya relaxes ever so slightly. "I will be honest, I thought it would be more difficult," she admits. "Some sort of monster we would have to slay before we were able to look through the stacks."
Still, she remains on guard, her focus on possible threats distracting her from looking through the books. Even with her skill with a staff, it's hard to search books while keeping both hands on it.
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Alvarius may not have spent more time than strictly necessary in a library, but he generally knows what he's looking for when it comes to all things occult.
Beatrice the moth flits about, following Alvarius as he conducts his searching. She responds to Nicky by ignoring him. "Your horny friend seems to see himself as a funny man. I don't like it."
The skeletal wizard responds. "Stick around. He might just grow on you."
"I doubt it." the moth replies in a tone as dry as the pages they search through.
"Yes, yes, a joke..."
Grundle surreptitiously slips the book back into his pack and begins to look around.
He scans the area in vain for a ladder.
"I will start with the lower shelves."
"There is yet time to learn that the pages are infested with some abyssal disease or the books will rise to assault the tribe for daring to steal the secrets of the god callers," he amurrun says before he slips away to investigate the old tomes and other relics of knowledge. He wears his wooden masked carved and painted to resemble a cheetah this day.
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You are able to uncover several facts through the dusty tomes at your dispposal.
Hieroglyphic inscriptions on the walls tell the story of how Domora’s first god caller, Domora Hume, summoned the goddess Dyzad to repel a massive party of invading raiders.
A series of stone tablets detail ancient Sarkorian god-calling rites performed on the shores of Hume’s Pool that far predate Domora Hume’s legendary feat, suggesting that the body of water had long been known to have sacred properties.
Domora’s founder, Domora Hume, saved his people from violent raiders by summoning a powerful water spirit named Dyzad from the lake just outside town. Henceforth, the water was called Hume’s Pool, and the people of
Domora revered Dyzad and Domora Hume as goddess and god caller. Future generations of Domorans continued the tradition of god calling, summoning Dyzad and other spirits to guide and protect the city.
The free-standing stone shelves filling the library once contained hundreds of tomes, historical artifacts, and other implements of higher learning. Though many of the library’s treasures have been destroyed or gone missing, the shelves themselves remain intact—barely.
Luckily you each notice the precarious shelving and avoid it.
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"The ruins of this once-proud city stand as a testament to the bitter irony of human faith and frailty. Here, its people, with unwavering conviction, called upon their gods, their voices raised in fervent prayer, pleading for divine protection. And yet, the city now lies in silent decay, its temples shattered, its streets overtaken by the relentless march of time and oblivion. The irony is sharp: the very gods to whom they entrusted their survival did not, or could not, intervene.
It is as if the stone and dust whisper of the futility of seeking salvation from forces beyond human understanding. In their desperate calls for protection, they overlooked the fragility of their own existence, placing faith in the invisible, while the tangible world around them crumbled. Now, those who once prayed are gone, their voices lost to the wind, while the ruins stand as mute witnesses to the ultimate indifference of the universe."
"Onye Dinta does not understand what Grundle said," the catfolk confesses to the gnome.
"I understand what he's saying. It's just jibberish is all. No offense, Grundle."
He considers what they've learned. "I think checking out Domora Hume's tower next feels like the right call. These books speak of them, and I'm willing to bet we'll understand them better by going to their home. And we can then skip all of the contemplation of mortal frailty. Trust me, it's not worth thinking about."
"Alvarius is right, to a degree. The gods can lead us -- Findeladlara brought my people to safety in the Crown of the World -- but we must act on our own as well. We mortals control our own destiny, for better or worse."
She considers.
"I agree we should go to the tower next."
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Nicky contemplates the varied opinions. He quickly agrees that the tower is the next best place to go. He makes other observations.
Yuppers. The Tower is next. You know Alvarius- I recall a rediculous story about a mage at the top of a tower who whispered to a moth like Beatrice and the moth beatrice then called an eagle to save the magus.
Does Bee have that kinda sway with giant eagles? Ask her. Say inquiring minds wants to know.
Also, I did find it interesting that the pool that had mystical summoning properties is now fully dried. I would probably write a story where the real waters of Hume's Pool are in a cistern deep underground. Hidden until the hero of ages arrives and the pool gets a new name- no longer Hume's pool, but Nicky's Water Park.
I'm just spit-balling. Now that I say it aloud, your deep religious talk was a whole lot better.
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The next day you decide to head as a group back into the ruins to investigate Hume's Tower.
After Domora Hume summoned Dyzad at Hume’s Pool, a stone tower was constructed near the city founder’s stables. From this tower, Domora communed with his goddess and trained aspirants who wanted to continue
the tradition of god calling. Even after his passing, Domora’s Tower was an important place of study for the city’s future generations of spiritual leaders.
Though badly damaged, the tower remains standing after all these years. A winding stone staircase circles the tower’s interior and connects its five stories. Each story is one large, open room.
"Not gonna lie, this place is interesting. Very interesting."
"Yes," Daehalya agrees. "Clearly a true place of learning."
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Five stories?! Weren't they worried about a Dragon attack? Or a Mind Flayer attack? Opps, sorry. Mind Flayers don't really exist. Just fancy tales to scare children. Even if they did, I spoke out of turn on how a 5 story tower would be detrimental to a mind flayer. Now a swooping dragon could crush a tower like this in 6,12,or 18 seconds.
Alrighty then- what can I find in this place. He has his magnifying glass out once again.
DC 21
"Is it not the essence of hubris to name a town, a tower, and a lake after oneself? It is an act that speaks to the human desire to defy impermanence, to etch one’s name onto the landscape as if the earth itself could be claimed and conquered by mere identity. The folly lies in the belief that such gestures of ego can resist the ravages of time, as if by naming these places, one could transcend mortality and secure a legacy beyond the fleeting grasp of human memory.
Yet, nature and time are indifferent to such grand proclamations. The town will fade, the tower will crumble, and the lake will outlast its name. In the end, the land will reclaim what was always its own, and the name, once spoken with pride, will dissolve into the same oblivion that swallows all things. To name so much after oneself is to believe that one’s significance is greater than the forces that govern existence—a tragic and timeless error in the human condition."
Grundle pauses.
"I suppose in this case the name outlasted the lake."
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The catfolk makes his way around the tower. "Domora name the lake? The people who came after to learn may have named the tower in honor of Domora," the catfolk muses. "Grundle may be speaking ill of the dead without foundation."
"Grundle may be speaking ill of the dead without foundation."
"You noticed that too, hey?"