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07.21.20

The Treasure of Weave-Steel

by Steel Claw

Worried about Theo and Steel in the laboratory, Izol flew inside a few inches above the broken (?) pressure plates. But this triggered an anti-arcane trap that flooded the room with harsh cold. Steel was able to take refuge underneath this cloak, Theo and the offending Izol taking the brunt of the attack.
 
Unhindered, Izol checked out a cabinet of books, locked by a word-lock of five letters. Thought he didn't try the lock, through the glass he could read the spines of the books within: many in Undercommon, about the environment there; a few in giant -- histories and encyclopedias; and two unmarked that look like spellbooks.
 

Treasures in the lab


Steel and Theo rifled through the magical components, finding many arcane treasures:

Show spoiler


  • A plethora of arcane components (hell ash, sulfur, and the like)

  • A silver skull with onyx gemstone eyes

  • A cracked compass that points towards rations when touched

  • A small metal lighter

  • 3x potions of healing

    • -Locket with a sapphire


  • Pamphlets, many containing incomplete spell equations

  • Spell scroll (VI) true seeing

  • Spell scroll (VII) regeneration

  • Spell scroll (VI) forbiddance

  • 5oogp of spell writing components

  • Treatises



  • Self-folding red paper that occupies itself only when it's not touched

  • A book that seems both legible and illegible

  • 100gp obsidian

  • 100gp ironwood

    • -100gp zircon
    -100gp tempered steel
  • two 5-foot bars of hallow-glass

  • glass shard that lights up when pointed north

  • iron dagger etched with three runes



  • Brass circlet with a ruby (a liar's circlet)

  • A monocle etched with holy symbols (gain thaumaturgy, with 300ft audio range)

  • A platinum ring, simply made (ring of the pilgrim which adds +2 passive Perception)




    •  
    Murg and Theo realized that some of the runes and books were in old common ("Olde Commogne"). Our cleric
     
    Steel did find a hastily scrawled note: "Secondary location proving insufficient for adequate security on mythicite findings. working with staff on finding better solutions"
     
    With everyone out of the room, Izol cautiously approached the locked glass case. "Try WEAVE!" Steel shouted. With trepidation the warlock put in the phrase...
    which worked. With access to the inside Izol coulg get his hands on the books:
     
  • A blank spellbook, made of blue leather treated with powdered sapphire (to dye it blue)

  • A +1 spellbook, containing the following spells:


    • Show spoiler



    I) alarm, burning hands, charm person, chromatic orb, color spray, comprehend languages, expeditious retreat, feather fall, jump, longstrider

    II) alter self, arcane lock, blindness/deafness, blur, cloud of daggers, darkvision, enlarge/reduce

    III) animate dead, bestow curse, blink, clairvoyance, counterspell, dispel magic, fly, gaseous form

    IV) arcane eye, banishment, blight. confusion. control water, fabricate, polymorph

    V) animate objects, bigby’s hand, cloudkill, passwall

    VI) circle of death, disintegrate

    VII) delayed blast fireball, etherealness, reverse gravity



    In the corner, a flapping curtain caught Murg's eye. He grabbed it to pull the curtain from its hanger -- but the curtain of smothering tried to cover the cleric. With his long bugbear arms Murg simply held it at arm's length, balled it up, and threw it aside. Behind it was another mythicite mural behind a fountain, frozen with liquid weave. Theo attuned the fountain, cracking the weave. The shards collected in the fountain's basin, revealing the middle -- a five-foot hole like we had seen a few floors down.
     
    This hole was almost twenty feet deep. Murg spotted a skeleton at the bottom; Theo was able to mage hand the bundle it in its hands. And Murg unwrapped the emerald-green silk wrapping to reveal two octagon-shaped locks (with normal-looking keyholes). The previous keys we had found fit this lock -- and Izol figured the backs of the locks (the pair) should fit to something: "Doors, we had seen previously." In the previous hallway no less.
     
    With a hiss of steam they opened, revealing the next room:
     
    So Murg and Izol fitted the missing locks to the door and excitedly unlocked them again with the keys we had found.
     

    The control room (well part of)


    This was the true lab: strange glass plates with scrolls and information, impossibly complex; metal devices with unknown functions, pipes and wires and plates that make the rest of the tower look like a child's playhouse. And in the center was another console for the intelligence of Varunmund.
     
    "Greetings, Master Theo." The intelligence was still kicking here. It confirmed the laboratory was Aldaramus' secondary workspace, and the primary was in the core. This room was one of two control rooms for the intelligence of Varunmund itself. And interestingly enough, if we have access to both control rooms we can control parts of Varunmund -- in short the intelligence would be able to teleport us to the tower's core, "Two halves, time and space."
     
    It also confirmed that boneclaw was "alive" and looking for us.
     

    Processing emotions


     
    We had to head back to the pit of reverse gravity. The intelligence thankfully deactivated that trap.
     
    When asked, Theo learned that the intelligence could leave the tower with us. In the core are its main controls, and our best bet to that end.
     

    Keep them close


     
    Izol and Murg made a bet: the killer of the boneclaw would win the magic lighter we had found.
     
    So we returned to the pit, where the reverse gravity trap was. Izol floated down, ready to catch Murg -- who crushed the smaller caster with his immense weight as he fell down into the pit. Other than that, the rest of the group made it safely into the pit and headed to the east as instructed.
     
    Theo attuned to the pool of frozen liquid-weave, unfortunately releasing a cloud of gas.
    More terrifying was when the cloudkill swirled into a corporeal form, a cloud, and made for the group of us. Murg jumped to our defensive, the holy light from his gavel scattering the cloud into dust, then nothingness.
     
    Underneath where the cloudkill had formed, a lockbox sat half-buried in the weave-ice. Theo let Izol take it, who opened the box engraved with "Eliana". Inside was nothing more than an engagement ring and a note: "I know we may never meet again... Time heals all wounds. I hope that this ring will find use for you. Yours always, Marcus." (Ring of parables -- when healed you regain extra health equal to your Intelligence [Religion] bonus). And inside the ring: "Starlight guide you, moonlight keep you."
     
    Steel wants nothing to do with the ring. "It's not yours to give or take."
     

    The second control room


    Beyond that room was the other control room ("space"), revealed behind a wave of weave-ice. But before we could enter, a silver skull emerged from the rolling ice.
    "Who are you?"
     
    It introduced itself as Archmage Varun. Izol misspoke before it, but Murg saved the situation: for the floating skull archmage, all it wanted was to enjoy food again. "But I can't, damn this body." So instead? Something crunchy:
     

    GEMS, THE MAXIMUM CRUNCH


     
    Sated, the skull of Varun allowed us to pass into the control room.
     
    The ceiling in this room was a beautiful magical recreation of the night sky, full of stars. It moved in real time, as far as we could tell -- except the sun; Izol found behind it a spell scroll (VI, sunbeam). He snuck it into the sapphire spellbook, for later.
     
    Theo activated and spoke with the intelligence of Varunmund, who provided a path to the tower's core: a mythicite ladder and bridge in the pit that led to a secret chamber and teleportation pad.
     


    Beyond, we expect the boneclaw.
     

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    by 3 Armored Kittens · Prodromos v.1.1 - World Anvil 0.9.15.042 © 2017-2024 [en] | Anvil Time: 14:42, Nov 8 2024