Chapter 6: The Iron Door mission

[drpete]

Date: Euryale 12, 12:20 pm (Turn 20)
Season: Mid Fall
Moon phase: First Quarter
Light Sources: Randolpho (Lantern, 0 hrs, 50 minutes remaining), Galen (Lantern, 0 hrs, 50 minutes remaining)
Time since rest: 50 minutes (5 turns)
Location: Smashed Laboratory

Quinn pushes the door further open, revealing a room with a large, iron-reinforced wooden table in the center. The table is stained by spills of various colors. While most of these are dark, some of the stains are bright colors... of rare dyes or unusual magical components. Along the walls are many iron shelves. Many of these are also stained, like the table.

Broken glass litters the floor, like someone took all the bottles and alchemical equipment off the shelves and broke it on the ground. There are also the remains of smashed stools and other small wooden furnishings scattered about.

Besides the door you came in, there are two doors in the northeast corner, one north that your map indicates would go into the main wide hallway, and one heading east that the map indicates leads to room 49.

(In terms of time, since I haven't been indicating it recently, I assumed you searched the room with the boxes while Torgyr investigated them for 1 turn, you fought and then searched the storeroom for one turn, then search this room for a turn. This has been your pattern, previously, though the posting and the details have been a little sparse lately. As I understand the plan, you want to rest, then listen/check for traps on the last door in this group, yeah?)

[barkman]

Sounds good. Randolpho will refill his lantern at this rest.

[drpete]

Date: Euryale 12, 12:40 pm (Turn 22)
Season: Mid Fall
Moon phase: First Quarter
Light Sources: Randolpho (Lantern, 3 hrs, 50 minutes remaining), Galen (Lantern, 0 hrs, 30 minutes remaining)
Time since rest: 10 minutes (1 turns)
Location: Library

The group secures the room and rests. Randolpho refills his lantern.

Torgyr listens to the east door and searches it for traps, finding none. Opening the door reveals a room with iron shelves on the walls. Most of the shelves are empty or mostly empty, but there are still a few very crumbly old books and scrolls on the shelves, indicating that this was once a library, though most of what was once on the shelves is gone, now.

[barkman]

Randolpho will search the shelves to see if there is anything of interest/importance left.

[drpete]

Most of what is left crumbles at the touch, but there are a few things that have survived:

A book with the title "Arto Bellumoi" which seems to be a book on military strategy.

A map, of a territory called "The Exarchate of Theana"

A book with the title "Zatrikio Rules of Play: Judges Handbook" The book is tattered and has a moldy red bookmark.

A partially burned scroll.

[barkman]

Randolpho will carefully unroll the scroll after storing the book on war and map in his pack.

[drpete]

Technically, the things are found by the group after a search of the room, so people have time to examine them, etc, if they want... I was just accelerating the result by assuming Randolpho was speaking for the group...

[barkman]

Ok, just trying to move things forward. Slow day of imaging systems at work.

[drpete]

That's cool, just sayin...

Randolpho looks over the scroll, and finds that it contains a (mostly) legible incantation in High Thulian and a large circle with a number of arcane images in the center of the scroll. You recognize it as a Ward Scroll, but you'll need to read through it at a bit more leisure to figure out exactly what it wards against.

[Stirling]

I wonder if giving the rule book to the arguing 'chess game' ghosts, will cause them to help us too?

[kalstone]

Solaine tries to recall if she is familiar with the book on military strategy.

[drpete]

Solaine tries to recall if she is familiar with the book on military strategy.

Solaine is definitely familiar with it, though she hasn't read it, partially because it is notoriously difficult to understand the archaic references. This copy seems to have notes (or annotations) explaining various references. You imagine it would take a while to read, but would be a very worthwhile read for a military officer.

[kalstone]

Solaine says, "If no one minds, I would like to take this book. I've been meaning to read it at some point." If everyone agrees, she will start to read it during the party's downtime.

[Dogma]

"Fine with me. My strategy doesn't get much past sticking a sword into someone's gizzard."

Ranulf will carefully leaf through the book on Zatrikio to pass the time.

[drpete]

Ranulf leafs through the book. The red bookmark marks a section titled "Asana's Challenge". This seems to be a puzzle about how to get a knight to touch all of the allowed spaces without repetition.

[barkman]

"Maybe waving this scroll under Climent's nose will convince him to join one of us. Where to next? "

[Stirling]

Looking at the map we have searched rooms 46 to 49. Quinn votes we check out the larger round room at the eastern end of the corridor then make it up to the iron door room in the corner.

[Dogma]

"Sounds good to me Quinn." Ranulf nods absentmindedly to Quinn's suggestion. While leafing through the ancient rule book he is reminded of the argument between the two ghost they encountered earlier. His curiosity piqued, he looks for any mention of the elephant piece moving over the mountain.

I think that was the rule they were arguing over...couldn't readily find the reference.

[drpete]

The book contains official rules about the map and how the different pieces move, absolutely. It says none of the pieces are allowed to go through the center.

So you want to go to the round room (29), bypassing the connection to the stairs (51), yes?

[Zorroroaster]

"Our plan was to explore down here as far as the mural room, which the Oracle listed as 54 on our map. That way we would have both the key and the knocker for the iron door. I believe we should continue towards that."