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"'Hope'. Hmm."
Jiki looks for ways to add dice to his dice pool.
Jiki keeps four sixes.
What a full house! He'll switch to fives for reasons that make sense to him alone.
Final result: six 5s.
That's already a complete run, so he does not reroll.
Final result: run of six.
Either way, Jiki ended with a group of six, so a reroll is granted to another PC (preferably one who would lose otherwise).
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Marveling at the wonders the small gnome feels half his age from being around the house of Nivi.
Gib smiles looking at the door, “Nice warm runes of Hope on the door. I wonder if that is a warning or an encouragement?”
Gib feels lucky starting with 8 dice! The small gnome rolls the cup of dice.
Keeping the 3 six’s Gib soops up the 5 other dice and rolls.
Gaining another six for a total of 4, Gib collects up the 4 remaining dice into the cup blows on them for luck, and rolls them out!
Gib lets out a happy shout ” Yess..” As his dice show 5 six’s face up.
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Durg looks vaguely confused at all the math rocks being thrown around, but tries to follow along.
After a long moment, she pulls out a 1, 3, and 4 and rerolls the rest.
"Nope." She sets aside a 2, scoops the rest up again, and tries once more.
"Heh." She sets a straight 1-6 on the table, with an extra 4.
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As each of you make your dice rolls, you each find that, after your turns, win or lose, a silver six-sided die appears in your hand. You are also awarded a boon from Nivi:
Along the table, the following words appear:
You won't find gold in Nivi's vault.
No treasures piled deep.
Instead, a safe respite from woes,
A chance to rest and sleep.
Kreighton Shaine is awed at your progress, but he says nothing.
Leaving the house, you head back towards the chasm. The mushrooms have floated off somewhere else to hunt for easier prey so you can cross the bridge safely.
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The path to Piltineff Gosk's crystal winds through bizarre crystalline structures. These crystals appear in every color of the rainbow, as well as some strange hues that defy description. They grow from the ceiling and floor, sometimes growing into each other in a melding of colors. Occasional crystals contain a small animal, frozen in place. When the PCs arrive at the location that Irlah Kestiwhitt gave them, there's no sign of a crystal with a gnome in it.
There are large tracks leading past where the crystal should be according to Irlah's directions.
The most likely kind of dragon for this terrain is a crystal dragon. They know that crystal dragons are friendly but extremely vain.
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Marta finds the tracks and you follow them to a cave about a half mile away. You hear an excited voice boom out.
"Come in! Come in! It's been awhile since I've had visitors. You're probably here to admire me?"
Entering the cave, you see a striking figure covered in colorful crystalline features stretching his wings and addresses you. "Oh, hello, travelers. It has been so very long since I’ve had any visitors, and the cave of Caliclotherax has had no one else to appreciate its beauty. Tell me, did you come to admire me or my collection? Oh, of course, it must have been both. You can’t have one without the other!" The dragon strikes a dramatic pose.
Without even waiting for you to introduce yourselves, Caliclotherax begins showing off his collection, pointing out several pieces and even posing beside them ().
You soon spot one large crystal with a gnome encased inside, displayed in the very center of the largest cavern.
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"OH! Then maybe you'll like this piece here!"
Caliclotherax begins a long-winded recitation about where a certain crystal was found and how pretty it is.
"Like most crystals, I only pick the best. That one with a gnome is one of the centerpieces of my collection. Not many crystals have a being locked in it, you know."
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Gib follows the group admiring the crystal formations as they locate the Crystalline dragon Caliclotherax.
” You are most kind oh Caliclotherax to welcome travelers, your collection of crystalline stones is quite breathtaking. Ha, a gnome in a crystal how very unique! How much do you know about Gnomes?"
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Caliclotherax beams at GiB at his praise of his collection, but pretty much ignores the question on gnomes... He continues showing off his collection as if the question was never asked.
Kreighton Shaine is starting to get impatient. He starts making subtle gestures about trying to get the gnome crystal. He will probably resort to more obvious hints soon.
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replying to Jiki's message, "He is pretty vain and proud of his collection. Some of our options are: 1) break open the crystal without the dragon's permission. 2) Ask the Dragon's permission maybe in such a way that appeals to his vanity and goodness. 3) Find something more valuable for the dragon's collection to trade. 4) Make it undesirable, such as lying to the dragon and telling him Gnomes kept in crystals will explode after a dozen years this one could go at any time. 5) Distract the dragon and steal the crystal."
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Jiki returns to the crystal with Piltineff and examines it more closely, making sure to adjust his glasses a couple of times. "I see what you mean, Marta. And this one is a bleachling, even. Terrible for the gnome, of course, but bad luck for you as well. They lose all their color, and then they just... crumble. I'd say you have five years maximum before you have a crystal with a gnome-shaped hole and some dust."
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”Not to mention what keeping a Gnome in a crystal would do to your reputation, If word got around to the Gnome village the name Calclotherax would be mud. On the other hand, if you were to set the Gnome free and we take him to the village we would ensure that your reputation as being renowned as being a virtuous dragon as well as having a beautiful crystal collection. Who knows you might start getting a lot of gnome visitors to view your collection.”
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◆ Message: "Sorry, Gib. I'll buy you a round to make up for this."
Jiki gestures at all the other crystals. "The centerpiece of your collection, certainly, but does it really match the collection? All the others are perfect, flawless, while this one has an imperfection inside. Would you add a crystal with a crack or a bubble to your hoard?"
"And surely a glorious dragon such as yourself does not need to sully his collection with a mere gnome, and a bleachling at that? You are as near perfection as I have ever beheld, and this one is just..."
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Having made her argument, Marta sees what effect it has:
"Everness, I think we need your expertise. Explain to this magnificent collector in front of us how this is just all wrong for the given theme?"
Using her mirror, Marta reaches into the Akashic Records. Everness spies the book on geometric patterns and color theory in decorative crystals.
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Marta's words also have an effect on Caliclotherax. The dragon begins nodding up and down, agreeing with the mage. Everness' explanation also serves to convince the dragon that the crystal is not worthy of his collection.
"You are correct, my little friends. I don't understand what I possibly saw in this piece. You may have it"
You break the crystal and release Piltineff. He greets you excitedly. "By Nivi's gray hairs, I'd almost given up hope that the Pathfinders would ever manage to find us! Thank you!" He embraces Kreighton, which seems to startle the Master of Scrolls. "I know my way back to the Gnome Village. I'll wait for you there. Oh, and you can probably use this better than I."
Piltineff hands you his glaive.
"Now then, perhaps you should see this. This is my favorite piece. It's a plate of crystal with some words on it, though I know not the significance."
There's hope for all who play the game,
Despite a world of debt.
Nivi's there to ease your cares,
Erase your fear and fret.
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Irlah warns you that the druid is very angry over being trapped in Nivi's Vault. Eltha blames both Kreighton and Effeflinn for being trapped in the Darklands, and she wants revenge as much as freedom.
The journey passes through a series of caverns that twist and turn, dividing and coming back together again. Any magical forms of telling direction don't work as something about the caves completely skews it. However, Irlah gave you very detailed directions that involve counting how many passages to pass by before turning and looking for rock outcroppings that resemble various barnyard animals. Just after the group passes a rock structure that does look remarkably like a pig, Kreighton Shaine triggers a magical trap that freezes him in place.
A dwarf woman wearing dark-colored furs emerges from an adjacent cave, accompanied by a large, hairless animal with multi-colored teeth. "I see the Pathfinders have finally made it here for a rescue mission. Only took a hundred years. Well, I suppose most of the current lodge wasn't even alive when we got lost, so I'll try not to hold it against you. Effeflinn sent me a sending spell, but I see she didn't come with you. I suppose that's a habit of hers. Well, I'll just take my revenge on Kreighton here, and then I'll return with the rest of you. Is it okay if I bring Sparkles back with me? I've grown very attached to him." She pats the creature standing next to her.
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Durg aids by standing back and shutting up, though she does move closer to Kreighton. She gestures Gretchen forward to help everyone keep Eltha from going bonkers.
The halfling smiles as she steps forward. "We have spent the last 100 years attempting to find our way back. The song was lost and the portal would not open. But now we are here to help return you to the world above, but only if you wish. I think Sparkles, you said? can accompany you," she looks at Durg to see if that's true.