Actions and research in the Collegiate Arcanium.
Orgoth you can buy two holy water, one for Sven as well so add one each and minus another -25gp.
With
Dougal you discuss information on a forget shrine and piece of
Cromm history. Certainly the mountain tops are venerated among the faithful which is echoed with the popular motto "No mountain high enough", alluding to man's resilience and ability to overcome every challenge. This particular shrine seems located well in the south of the Moon Peaks and would indeed take a committed expedition to locate the ruins.
Moriartus
Your mentor raises an eyebrow at your suggestion. He reminds you that to graduate you gained the ability to cast Identify yourself and it is incumbent upon you to gather the requisite material components (a pearl worth 100gp, an owl feather, a live carp or goldfish or similar catalytic substitutes). Generally a mage who offers Identify to others does so for 200gp which includes the spell materials and his own time, effort and labour. Labour it is, for it often affects the Constitution to the point of collapse.
Of course no Identify cast is guaranteed to be perfectly accurate and each magic item might balance risk with reward for any item with a curse may manifest that upon the mage during the spell casting. Pearls are available on a first come, first served basis and cost presently 110gp due to demand.
Moriartus scouts for a Mage to Identify: y / n? [1d2]=1
You can find a willing student to take the staff and cast the spell but he wants 220gp and will take a full day to concentrate upon the task. A higher level student who might have more % chance of accuracy divining will cost 330gp. You can buy the materials and take a day yourself for base cost.
Sven:
After some discussions and a few of the tutors giving a quick inspection, you get the following:
The gems, highly prized could be sold for a large amount, several thousand gold each. But the issue of whether they are indeed '
Soul gems' and whose soul might be inside is the interesting feature. Few people know much of the lore around such things, the presumption is that the gem is used almost as a cryogenic receptacle, freezing the soul or some essence of a person upon their death. Possibly they may be redeemed, the thought that the spirit could somehow leave the gem and inhabit another mortal body. Possibly the spirit could be contacted whilst in the gem and asked questions, maybe in line with the 'Speak with the Dead' spell.
A sage at the Collegiate may be engaged at a cost of 1,000gp per month to study the gems and report back any findings. A lot at the moment is speculative and without revealing too much of where and how you found them, the safe has little basis to research specifics.
You engaged three scholars, paying them to research the specific themes. I rolled a check vs their intelligence and determined that the more they passed 4d6=4 being a critical success / =24 being critical flunk. The more they succeed to better the info.
Ossithrax scholar vs 16 [4d6]=12[4d6]=16 Maze scholar vs 14 [4d6]=20[4d6]=14 Mounds scholar vs 15 [4d6]=15[4d6]=14
Ossithrax: The dragon was buried alive in his lair by the barbarians who fought him, the dragon jealously guarding his pile of golden treasures.
The lair was a grand temple portico of ruined pillars with a great statue to Nergal.
Certain treasures of Ossithrax (tapestry?), contain remnant essence of his soul and even in death, his spirit searches the treasures out so they may be reclaimed.
Barrowmaze: Nergal and his subservient demons built a lot of the Maze, extending the labyrinth alongside subterranean tombs built as mausoleums to noble or notorious heroes. But as his power waned, he left the Barrowmaze construction unfinished and abandoned. The maze was then occupied by wandering creatures. A door leads to each level of the Abyss and each time you go through a door you have a 1 in 666% chance of going to hell.
The Barrowmaze is said to contain many traps and portals built to confuse explorers. The more of the Maze you map, the crazier you become until you go mad. Your sanity decreases with each increase in revelation or discovery. Some portals are one way only (especially the ones leading to hell) and using them may initiate some personal affect such as gender change, body dismorphia (grow an extra arm, head, horns, tail), gain or lose an ability statistic.
Barrow Mounds: There are more than four score large barrows in the meadow, hundreds more upon the Moor. Each is unique and range from common graves to marbled mausoleums. A guardian spirit watches over each tomb and blesses you if you leave an offering at the entrance.
At night, the Moor mist forms into the ghostly spirits of those who have died exploring the Barrow Mounds and they parade as haunts to their misfortune. If you die in the mounds you will come back as undead.
So these are some bits of information that may help or hinder your future Barrowmaze choices.