Session 4: Tower Troubles

14th & 15th of Snowmelt

General Summary

When last we left our heroes, the LUKI Four found themselves wrongly accused of stealing the gemstone from Amazius's throne. Bolx, the translator, insists that Tiana is behind the theft and that she is not to be trusted. Our adventurers decide to investigate these claims later, buying themselves time by offering the Bullywugs half of the bloodstones Grand Overseer Belkoris Wilthorn had given them. After briefly updating Grand Overseer Wilthorn, the party heads on over to Naveen. The High Priest tells them that Tiana has always helped the people in and around The Floats and that, to him, Lohik is the one who can't be trusted. This leaves the party with few options besides looking into Bolx's accusations of Tiana, and so they make their way down to her hut. Tiana explains that Bolx has never really trusted her and that she has no clue as to his reasons. She even offers the LUKI Four to search her house, which they - convinced of her innocence - decline. Our heroes decide to postpone the matter of the stolen gemstone for a while, instead focusing their efforts on finding Lohik and investigating Knuc's tower. Tiana tells them of a dream she's been having that relates to the tower. It contains the words "double green" and the sound of a cat in pain, but she doesn't know what it all means.
The LUKI Four arrive at the tower around noon, cleverly using a wildshaped squirrel Leaf with a rope from their backpack to climb the 10 meter high wall of the Garden of Stone surrounding the Tower. They jump down to find the garden filled with statues, each with their heart missing. Slightly concerned, the party tries to carefully navigate the Garden, finding runes on the tower and special flowers in the garden. They eventually find a hole in the ground, where they expect the basilisk to be located. Squirrel Leaf tries to take a quick peek and just barely catches a glimpse of the basilisk's tail as it moves away. The party decides that the basilisk is not worth their trouble, but a cry for help they assume to come from Lohik once again draws our adventurers to the cave. To their surprise, the sound also seemed to alert the basilisk, who comes to take a look. Combat ensues, and our heroes make swift work of the rather slow and graceless basilisk. They are left with a mystery, however, as Uthal's alarm spell that he placed at the cave's entrance went off twice without the party spotting anyone.
Nevertheless, the LUKI Four decide to investigate the hole and thus they discover the lair of the basilisk. They find a small section of the wall which they can crawl through, and arrive in a large open area. Here, they can either head back in the general direction of The Floats through the underground caverns, or enter the door to Knuc's Observatory. They unlock the magical lock by knocking on the door and enter the tower into a levitation shaft. They find the lower floor to be abandoned, but it houses four luxurious bedrooms, a mess hall, and a bathroom. They also find small magical balls with runes on them that correspond to the runes outside of the tower. They can be used to travel through the wall of the tower out into the garden and back again.
Moving on to the second floor the LUKI Four meet Alistar, the butler of Knuc. He is a living plate armour set that guards Knucs personal quarters. The party talks to him at length, learning that the wizard has been gone for nearly four centuries. They ask Alistar several questions, including some about a number of items that a few of our heroes are searching for. The party inquires about the sign they found in Gildenwharf, but Alistar only answers with a stoic "I will not talk of this". A question about a specific book grants them the hint "silver-bronze". The adventurers don't know what this means right away, but, after moving on to the third floor, the party discovers a room with 100 doors in the colours of the dragons. The door handle is also in one of these colours, granting our heroes 100 unique doors to chose from. They investigate both the silver door with the bronze handle and the bronze door with the silver handle. Opening the bronze door unleashes a painfully cold blast of air into the shaft, injuring most of the party.
The silver door with the bronze handle leads to a room that holds the Alchemical Compendium, a powerfully magical book. The puzzle that awaits the LUKI Four in this room is unable to stop them from winning the book, although it takes them a while to figure it out and some of them sustain rather serious injuries. Having successfully navigated one of the trials of Knuc's Observatory, the party decides to take a long and well-deserved rest. The following morning, they decide to investigate the green door with the green handle, based on the dream Tiana was having. They enter a forest-like terrain with a small pond, frozen solid. At the centre of the room is a floating blue orb, slightly pulsating. High up in the room, a small creature with the body of a cat, a dragon-like face, and the wings of a butterfly sits frozen on a branch. What trial might await our heroes in this room?
Next session: Session 5: Tiana the Hag

(Noteworthy) Characters Interacted With:
The Floats:

• Alistar, Butler of Master Knuc
• Tiana, Healer at The Floats
• Bolx, Translator at The Floats
• Naveen, High Priest of Malaqiel at The Floats
• Plux From the Five Fires at The Floats

Report Date

18 Dec 2021

Primary Location

The Floats

Tiana