Madcap turns to Mikhail and says "Say, do you play chess?"
This time Thornrose enters F8 and locks the door behind him. As before, things seem normal for him, but when the others open the door, they find the room without him or the key. The Balrog enters and touches the mirror, and finds its surface insubstantial. He could likely pass through without any trouble.
Madcap looks directly at the players just the other side of the fourth wall and says "Somehow I knew he was going to say that."
More once the others join you.
You find a secret door leading to where you would expect F7 to be.
The view from the window is the same as it was before you turned the key.
Looking around the room the clown says "I spy with my little eye something that begins with 'M'."
Razisus follows The balrog through the mirror, and eventually the rest of the Pathfinders do as well - including Thornrose, who found a way back through room F7.
The southeast corner of this room has broken off along with part of the floor. Rubble, loose bricks, and masonry litter the edges. Beyond the opening, blue sky and the Absalom’s city skyline are plainly visible. A solitary door is closed to the south and a full-length mirror is bolted to northwest wall.
The door is not locked but seems to be blocked from the other side. You can try to open it with Strength or try to exit the room another way.
Once again, the voice of the Master of Scrolls drifts through the tower, borne on a magical breeze. ”Well done, Pathfinders! The tower is stabilizing…only a little bit more to do.”
The Balrog walks through the mirror."It would seem that our Fiery Friend has found a way to another room." Razisus notes. He attempts to follow through the mirror.
"The's disappeared!" announces Madcap overturning the chess table set on the bed. "We should start an exhaustive search of all of the other rooms!"
Razisus follows The balrog through the mirror, and EVENTUALLY the rest of the Pathfinders do as well....
The southeast corner of this room has broken off along with part of the floor. Rubble, loose bricks, and masonry litter the edges. Beyond the opening, blue sky and the Absalom’s city skyline are plainly visible. A solitary door is closed to the south and a full-length mirror is bolted to northwest wall.
The door is not locked but seems to be blocked from the other side. You can try to open it with Strength or try to exit the room another way.
"Pardon me. Excuse me, Pardon me. Excuse me." Madcap makes her way to the front of the line and peaks around the broken off corner of the room to see what's on the other side and above and below.
The wall goes all the way to the edge of the platform on both sides, so jumping is out of the question. You figure that it would be about as difficult to climb or use acrobatics to get there as to balance on a 3-inch width ledge (i.e. DC 15), but fail by more than a little and you will end up on the ground far below.
...and as she tries to figure out a path, Madcap watches a pillar roll from the opposite side of the door and off the edge of the platform. The door then opens easily.
This floor is clear except where the walls are crumbled away. The north and west windows feature gargoyles just below them. Both gargoyles have a reservoir built into their backs so oil or other chemicals can be poured and sprayed down on would-be attackers. Numerous arrow slits are built into the walls.
|
"Well done!
So now what?
'Aspis agents have made off with the Sky Key and seem to be holding out in the tower floating above our lodge.'
We're in the tower. We keep exploring these other rooms that haven't fallen apart yet?"
The Balrog casts Open/Close on the door to the northwest room. He likes opening doors at an oblique angle so that the people inside the room don't see who has done it.
The door to this staircase is unlocked. The stairs wind upward past tight corners.
This room contains ancient siege supplies stored here when Skyreach was considered a fortress in the traditional sense. Barrels of oil and a decrepit wheelbarrow are here, as well as several crates of serviceable arrows.
Turning every stone reveals a room with old cots and moth-eaten blankets smothered in a thick layer of dust that confirm that no one has been posted atop this tower in years. The cots are nevertheless are sturdy and the door is functional. There is also a stairwell counterclockwise down the tower, which ends abruptly at the damage seen earlier.
The Pathfinders ascend.
The top floor of the tower is an open, undivided by interior walls but for the small space partitioning the stairwell. Windows large enough to step through line the exterior walls. Immense magical circles are permanently etched into the floor, their lines and curves inscribed and filled with several types of metallic powder. Faint, multi-colored mist roils within the southern circle.
Two strange contraptions stand near the northwest and southwest windows. Each device is a large, red-tinted crystalline lens mounted in a frame so that they may be angled in all directions.
A man in green robes examines one of the circles while two hulking half-orcs stand near the lenses. All wear badges of the Aspis.
Round 1 - bolded may go
Madcap
Green
Red
Blue
Thornrose
Mikhail
Razisus
Alecto
Balrog
Madcap strides up the steps and noisily shoves her way past Mikhail and Thornrose seeming to take a sharp thorn from the knight in exchange for her haste. She strides into the center of the room and dramatically says: "Well?" to the man in green.
"Well what? I'm trying to figure out what this does. Don't you have your own job to do?" The robed figure doesn't seem to be convinced Madcap belongs here, but is not bothered enough by her presence to do anything about it - including raise the alarm.
Round 1-2 - bolded may go
Madcap
Green
Red
Blue
Thornrose
Mikhail
Razisus
Alecto
Balrog
"I'm here to find out what's taking you so long. The damnedable Pathfinders have secured most of Starhall and here you are still mucking about. Folks are not happy." she says.
"Lemme have a look." she says and moves closer to inspect the circle and lens thingies. "The, or is it Thee? Get up here and take a look at this stuff." she shouts back to Balrog, "One of you watch the stairs, and the rest keep an eye out these windows for Pathfinders. They're so close I can almost smell them."
She turns back to the guy in green robes. "What have you got so far?"
The Balrog detects magic.
The floating tower grows quiet as Pathfinders incapacitate the last of the Aspis Consortium operatives. Down hundreds of feet below, for the first time in living memory, the Grand Lodge’s gates are closed beneath the arch that bears the Glyph of the Open Road. Just outside the gates stands a crowd of hundreds pressed up together to look up and watch the spectacle. Behind them, a force of district guards pushes toward the front, calling for someone to open the gates. From the wall, Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin stares down and barks a firm “No.”
“Not your problem,” notes a deep voice. Marcos Farabellus and a half dozen other Pathfinders approach the party while sheathing their weapons. The Master of Swords gives a reassuring smile and remarks, “Just be thankful for once you’re not in charge down there.” His smile fades as he surveys the damaged tower and picks up the Sky Key in both hands. “It’s clear that the tower isn’t stable, and I don’t think tinkering with the Sky Key up here is going to make it conveniently set back down where it was. It’s past time we get out of here—before whatever magic is keeping us afloat decides to stop working.”
One-by-one, Pathfinders emerge from Arliss Hall, with Marcos Farabellus emerging last. A trio of Pathfinders is waiting for him with a thick chest, and he lightly places the Sky Key within, closes the lid, and motions for the agents to carry the strange Numerian device back to Skyreach, where several dozen armed operatives quickly surround them to ensure no more ill befalls the Society’s prize. The Master of Swords strides toward the pedestal where the towering statue of Durvin Gest once stood but now lies shattered. Within minutes, hundreds of Pathfinders and their venture-captains solemnly gather in a wide circle around the monument, and the blood-spattered Master of Swords addresses alumni of this year’s Grand Convocation.
“We were tested today, my friends,” he confidently states as he hefts a sheathed sword in one hand, “But we were not found wanting!” Following a ragged cheer, his expression sobers. “We also lost people today: good agents and one of their greatest teachers—the Master of Spells, Aram Zey. But I tell you we saved something far greater. Not some ancient relics from a bygone era! No! We kept our wits! We kept our courage! We kept our faith in one another, and we stood, shoulder-to-shoulder, UNITED!”
Another cheer rises up and after it subsides, the Master of Swords quietly observes, “And the damned snakes in the Aspis Consortium still don’t have an answer for that.” He clambers down the fallen stones and waves, “Tend to your wounds. Get yourself a good meal and some rest. We have a lot of work to do this year. Dismissed!” With that, he walks side-by-side with other venture-captains towards Skyreach.
Although it incurred losses, the Society has protected its greatest treasures and assets. The Aspis Consortium has revealed a weakness in the Grand Lodge’s security and lost the chance to exploit it—all thanks to the Pathfinders’ impressive defense.
Thanks to Madcap's distraction, the Pathfinders are able to incapacitate the Aspis agents without a fight. The green-robed man has the Sky Key, which the agents return to the Society's grateful leadership.
The mist within the circle eventually belches out some lightning elementals, which the team deals with easily before convincing the proteans to depart peacefully to a place that is somehow more chaotic than the floating tower.