Session 26: The Great Library, and an Army of Corrupted Report

General Summary

Previously

  After helping Root's group retrieve the runestone cache, the party is taken to Shadowmoon Salvage, where their arrival (and especially Windy's unique appearance) draws a lot of attention--including from a merchant who really wants to know if Windy is for sale.   They arrange a meeting with Terridar Shadowmoon, and eventually convince him that they are genuinely from "The Land Before", Paraxis. He is elated, and very willing to help. He advises them to avoid the authorities in the City Districts if possible, because there are too many competing factions, and too many with entrenched power, who would oppose or at least delay them.   He believes Scatterpoint has stagnated for centuries under the immortal Andari bureaucrats and the strange physical laws which prevent the inventors from moving their society forward. Any risk, even if it costs the lives of the Andari including himself, is worth it.   He advises that they both need to figure out where to set off the device, presumably at the site of the original Incident, and how to adapt it to work under the strange physical laws here.   The party decides that they, with their resources and information from Paraxis, might be able to enter the Great Library, and find the information they need there. They decide on this plan:  

• They will first travel to the Great Library, taking the Knight Giraldus the Loyal as their guide at Terridar's recommendation (since he knows the Barrens, already knows of the party's mission, and seems trustworthy).
• Windy asks Terridar if he can keep Root and the others here and busy for at least a bit, to give the party a chance to get away before too many people learn of them. (Windy also asks for a hooded cloak to help disguise his appearance).
• After hopefully learning of the location of the original Incident at the Great Library, the party will travel to Cog Castle to seek out Prof. Lassiter, who hopefully can help them figure out what they need to do.
• If necessary, they will they travel on to Stone Manor to consult with the Vampire Lord Valentine (and Terridar agrees to send a letter to Valentine to alert him to the party's mission).

  Terridar agrees to outfit them with supplies and lizard mounts for the journey, and has Giraldus brought in to help plan their route.

Session Notes

 

The Journey

The party decides to leave Shadowmoon Salvage as soon as possible, under the cover of darkness that evening. Zayer is disappointed that there are no shrines or temples to explore here, but Terridar says there are few regular inhabitants, and he considers representatives of both the Shadow Priests and the Converted to be potential spies for other factions.   Terridar's people are very efficient in preparing both the lizard mounts and supplies. The mounts are called Newts, and are large, bipedal lizards are roughly 9’ tall and are able to carry a grown man with ease. Typically docile, they are quite curious, pecking at anything they see, especially shiny objects (they are quite inquisitive about Windy). The five day journey is mostly uneventful, except for an attack by a flight of leatherwings (aerial predators of the barrens, leatherwings have keen vision, sharp, powerful beaks, and a wingspan exceeding that of a grown man, though their body is rather light with sharp edges). The party kills half the attacking flight before they can even close, and the rest break off. Arriving in the vicinity of the Great Library, the party is surprised to find first a patrol, and then an entire army camp of Corrupted downslope from the fortress of the Great Library. They manage to avoid detection, but Giraldus is deeply concerned. As far as he was aware, the Corrupted were only a handful of evil Converted here and there. He didn't think this many existed. He insists he must get word to the head of his order (far to the west, in the Glassmar mountains in Scarfall), but refuses to leave the party.   The party carefully circles around the army camp, through the ruins, and up the slope to the Great Library. The grandest repository of knowledge stands untouched and apparently inert, though the buildings around it are jagged and crumbling. It is an impenetrable fortress, and no has been able to even scratch its windows for generations. The building itself is covered in a grey sheen, that makes the party suspect that perhaps it exists slights out of phase, or in a slightly different plane, as if it didn't fully transition with the rest of Scatterpoint. Perhaps this is the reason why no one in this realm can affect it in any way.   Inspired by the idea, Jesse uses the Reality Comb from the moonbase, and is able to detect a possible entrance near the front doors. Circling around warily, the party spots a large Malakar, apparently directly a pair of demons to attempt (unsuccessfully) to break down the doors. There are also a pair of Corrupted nearby, on guard.   The party quickly withdraws and plans. They debate simply leaving, concerned about the army nearby, but agree that Giraldus should leave them, if they manage to enter the library, so that he can warn his Order of the Corrupted army. He plans to head to the nearest district, Shatterstone, and take the railway to Rustwater. They spend the next few hours in hiding, dodging patrols, while waiting for darkness and to see if the demons withdraw. Giraldus spends the time providing the party a rough map, and detailed instructions on how to reach Cog Castle so that they can get help from Professor Lassiter.   Late that evening, they find that the camp has settled down into a focused evening of torturing their prisoners, and that the Malakar and demons have withdrawn. Jessa manages to tune the Reality Comb to the right frequency, causing a glowing blue portal to open up in the main doors, as the entire library chimes like a giant bell. The party realizes the army will be on them shortly. Giraldus wishes them luck and rushes off, and they tumble through the portal and Jessa closes it. They have no idea how they get out again, with the alerted Corrupted army outside the Library, but at least they have found a way in.  

Inside the Great Library

  Inside, they appear to be in a cavernous, dark space. Suddenly, a translucent figure appears in front of them, and speaks to them in over-cheerful tones that crackle like a thunderstorm. He looks at you and says with excitement, or perhaps mockery, “Welcome to the History Archives! It has been *long pause* 373,209 days since we last had a visitor, so we hope that you enjoy the experience and pay us another visit very soon. Please note: some issues with the safety protocols have been reported to the maintenance AI, so use caution when interacting with the archives today. Remember, you can leave the archives at any time just by calling for the exit. What would you like to learn today?"   The party tries to talk to the figure, asking him about the Planar Stabilization Device, only to be answered with "Invalid input. Please tell me what you would like to learn or see today." Eventually, after a few attempts to explain why they are here, the figure says, "Ah! You'd like to learn about the Great Debate before the Cataclysm." When the party agrees, and asks more questions, he says, "I can't tell you about it, but I can show you."   With that, the party's surroundings suddenly change, and they find themselves standing in a plaza in an amazing city. Tall buildings surround them, strange craft fly overhead, and generally the architecture resembles what they saw as ghostly images in the interstitial region before they entered Scatterpoint--but here, the images are quite solid and real. They are surrounded by a crowd, mostly human but with some very distinctive other races mixed in. The crowd seems to see them, since they step around them, apologize if they bump into them, etc., but seem not to react strangely to the diverse party at all.   The crowd is streaming into a large building, apparently a large hall or theater, with blinking signs promoting "The Great Debate". The party make their way in, and find seats. Two debaters, the Great Wizard Kuronin the Glorious, and the Chief Scientist Maximillian the Brilliant, both resplendent in their finery, take the stage. The debate is verbose, eloquent, and lengthy, but boils down to:

• Both are clearly proud of their civilization, and what it has achieved by melding magic and science together. It has built a great civilizations, and explored the depths of the oceans, other worlds in this system, a handful of other stars, and other times and planes of existence. Both, however, agree that their civilization has progressed as far as it can, and is now stalled in its development (citing various statistics and events over the last century). They claim that their world is balanced on a knife edge between magic and sorcery, and must tip one way or the other to progress.
• Kuronin the Glorious extolls the virtues of magic, as touching the very fabric of creation, grappling with the very forces that the gods themselves used to craft creation, and made available to mortals bold and clever enough to wield it.
• Maximillian the Brilliant disagrees, claiming that the gods set down the rules which guide and move the universe, and science is the process of learning those rules, and leveraging them to build wonders. Science is not the province of the few, but available to every being. 
• Though both invoke the gods as part of their arguments, no priest is part of the debate. 
• As part of the discussion, Maximillian the Brilliant claims that the reason this civilization has been able to only access a handful of other stars is that they are stuck between the realms of magic and science, while other realms are dominated by one or the other. Those are inaccessible to them, unless they choose. (Something about this discussion strikes both Windellian and Zayer as reminscent of some theories of the Phlogiston).

The debate goes on at length, without resolution. At the end, the audience has a chance to ask questions. 

• Windellian asks what evidence there is for other realms, cut off from this one (while attempting to obliquely imply a deeper knowledge of the Phlogiston, and some reference to the ability to locate portals, to see what reaction he might get). Maximillian the Brilliant provides various unhelpful explanations, heavily couched in scientific jargon. Kuronin the Glorious seems impressed with his magical knowledge.
• Zayer asks why there must be a choice, why cannot things continue as they are. This sets off a long diatribe from both about the correct natural order of the universe, the importance of civilization progressing, etc.--but the subtext that Zayer picks up on is that both believe the current situation is unstable. If a choice isn't made, then this realm will tip one way or the other regardless, and each seem intent on making sure the "right" choice is made. (Perhaps even if they need to give it a push themselves). 

With that, the question time ends, and the scene shifts again. The party find themselves elsewhere.