Session 79: Quiet in the Library
General Summary
The next leg of our journey will have us infiltrating the Library of Forbidden Knowledge. We go under disguise and attempt to earn information on the Akashic Records through trade. The librarian isn’t impressed with anything we have to offer for it and any information that would actually prove valuable to her is also too valuable for us to part with. Negotiations lead nowhere, so after some minor trades and learning that my rakshasa ancestor once paid this place a visit, we go back to Pandemonius’ plane.
He’s hard at work finding which of his demons he cares so little for that he’d be willing to sacrifice for our mission. The Book of Serpents reappears in Industria’s hands and we’re left baffled into the memory of it returns. While she figures out where to hide it, we all have to decide whether we should kill the librarian if it comes down to it. I worry that killing her might destroy the knowledge she contains, but the others doubt it’s much of a risk. With that in mind, we don some better disguises and get protection spells in place. Pandemonius sends a squad of demons into Stygia to cause a distraction, giving us plenty of time to slip into the library without being noticed.
It’s quiet in here, aside from the magical ledger signing us in, which Elathera is quick to erase. The librarian’s absent and with nobody on guard, we have free reign. We scramble about, collecting all sorts of information such as the components and ritual necessary to summon a beast that would ring in the apocalypse. There’s an ominous book locked away in a mirror, but none of us are able to get through the glass. Industria finds a Gate Key, which can connect a portals from anywhere to form a bonded pair. Such a powerful object shouldn’t be left in the hands of demons, so she pockets it.
Her bad behavior encourages me to also steal an artifact, though the one I pick is simply a tool for unleashing chaos. Elathera desperately wants to go through the mirror and collect the ominous tome within, but we talk her down because it could be a trap. Exploration does lead us into a trap eventually and we’re left to face off with two giant, metal golems. Things get out of hand for everyone and we’re unable to put a dent in them, so our next best plan is for Elathera to open a portal to one of her many magic mansion in the middle of nowhere and get the golems inside.
The golems are successfully wrangled and trapped in their new bachelor pad for life. I find a rusted key in another room and as we leave to figure out what it’s magically connected to, we’re stopped by an owl-like being that’s peering around the corner. It extends a wing and balls of fire scatter through the room to keep us coralled in this hallway. It accuses us of stealing from the library and it isn’t hard to figure out that this is the librarian in her true form. She has a squad of demons with her, all of them becoming passive once she’s dead. They warn us that they’ll have to tell Asmodeus that we’re here, so we split the party to collect anything else of importance.
The rusted key leads me and Elathera through the mirror so we’re able to grab the tome. Industria and Rikius head up to the third floor, which turns out to be an attic ripe with stuff for the taking. There’s no time for that though, so they quickly grab the box labeled with “For the Akashic Records Section”. We reconvene and with the Gate Key, we bounce through pairs of portals until we’re on a deserted plane. The tome turns out to be the Dark Grimoire, which has thousands of pages on how to summon Great Old Ones.
After I dip out to gift the tool of chaos I pilfered, we gather around Industria as she opens up the box that may hold the answers we need.
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Report Date
05 May 2021
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