Ashley looks to Vilus, then to the lever, then back to Vilus. "I think I would feel it would be safer to check out this lever instead of having Vilus connect with something in this room? I could be wrong, and maybe you want to Vilus, but I am going to try this first."
She heads to the lever and unless someone stops her (which would be easy as she is open to it) she pulls the lever.
The lever glides into place at Ashley's behest. The large glass circle lights up and begins to glow much like the medallion. Large swathes of yellow point off in different directions. In a matter of seconds, the streaks shorten and condense into pinpoints sitting at various positions on the glass' surface. Lines of white light begin to emerge like cracks, gradually revealing what is unmistakably the outline of Cambria's western coast. Other details begin to fill in, such as rivers and mountains, and within a minute from flipping the switch, everyone is looking at a detailed map of Cambria.
And marked on this map are those points of light, now twinkling beacons, along with two beams of light that resemble the trapped light further back in the room. Shining down on the glass like a ray from heaven, but with no source and no illumination.
(Map up in Discord)
There are no cities or buildings shown in the map, but one beam seems to sit at right about the middle of where Tensmith would be if it were shown. Right about where this room would be, in fact. There is also a twinkling pinpoint of light right next to it, and one sitting a mile or so to the north. The other beam and two more pinpoints sit about where Talmouth should be, on the coast.
"Whoa!! Now that is cool. Though, I have no idea what to make of this." Ashley steps away from the lever and backs up a bit so that the rest can see the newly appeared map. She scratches her head as she looks down on the map, "What is it of?"
"Are the larger beams of light representing this room and another similar one in Talmouth? And perhaps the little pinpoints of yellow light near Tensmith and Talmouth represent individuals? Possibly being cult agents such as this Andra or Marigold. Is anyone familiar with this magic?"
Vilus is about to reply when the map pops up, he is a little taken aback from such magic but quickly composes himself and takes a closer look "oh shit, uhh, is there any more knobs or dials? We could see if we can look closer on this thing. Might give us a heading to cut off whoever these beacons represent, eh?" He looks around quickly for any more apparatus.
Samir fidgets with his glasses as he moves close to the newly revealed map for a moment. His eyes dart here and there, taking in the individual points and mentally comparing them to maps of the area that he has seen in the past. Thinking to get a better view, he moves to the desk and climbs atop it, trying to look from a greater height.
"The... beacons, shall we say, seem to obviously represent whatever it is that is encased within that column of light over there. The pinpoints of light, however... I cannot be certain what those could represent. However, given the proximity of one to the beacon here near us, I would think that we should be able to uncover whatever it might be."
As if a sudden thought had struck him, Samir starts and reaches hurriedly into his bag, withdrawing one of his books and a writing utensil. hurriedly, unsure of how long the image might last, he begains sketching a fast, rudimentary copy of the map and indicating where the beacons and points of light are.
“If the twinkling lights are cultists, there is one nearby, best be on our guard”Malachi tilts his head and studies the map “But surely there are more cultists than just those few points of light. Maybe they are marking something else? Can you tell using the map how to reach those lights? Would we recognize them if we found them?” He directs the last two questions to Samir as he sketches the map.
As Vilus looks around ne the map for more functions on the machine he finds no answers, however he does have an idea.
Hesitantly, the Goliath reaches out to the image on the screen with two fingers outstretched, as he touches the screen he drags his fingers apart and the image zooms in a little, repeating the process he zooms in far enough that the display only shows tensmith and he pin points the exact locations of the two pin points surrounding the large beam, "Samir from the positioning of the smaller motes of light, shouldn't this one be us?" He says pointing to the mote closest to the large beam, "if these represent the medallions and we know we are here, that must mean that Andra is the only other person with a medallion and he's up there" Vilus points up toward the mine where the second mote seems to be on the larger scaled map, "and then the big beam is the machine, yes? We'll need to keep this intact for now, evidence and all that but I think it needs destroying before we leave town... So for now this is a capture mission, correct? We bag the mother-cult-er and question the hell out of him, maybe use him as bait to lure out any low level shits....
Hang on I want to check the other points too" with that Vilus, somewhat distractingly, zooms the map back out and pans over to Talmouth, zooming back in he tries to pinpoint the location of each beam and mote in Talmouth
"There was talk about something coming from across the sea to the West, right? Vilus, can you zoom out further? See if there is anything out that way?" Ashley hovers near his shoulder, trying to get a view of the map that is a bit unfamiliar to her. She had an idea where these cities were, but it was interesting to see them pointed out as beams of light.
Zooming in on Talmouth, Vilus notes the locations of the other pinpricks of light, as well as the beam. He also notices that one of the lights is on the move. It is fairly close to the coast, in an area of town where Vilus knows the roads are mostly north-south and east-west, but the mote of light seems to be traveling slowly at odd angles that shouldn't be possible at street level.
"They're preparing in the tunnels under Talmouth too... shit, they might have infiltrated Dilirium." Vilus seems angry at himself a little before Ashley's question catches him off guard. "Oh yeah, I.. um, here, let's see." He zooms the map out as far as he can dragging the coast off to the east in an effort to view as much of the sea as possible, looking closely for any pinpoint pricks of light in the vastness of the deep.
Vilus swipes and swipes again, zooming west past the coast, and past the island of Skeald Rock. For five long swipes, there is nothing but still ocean. Without warning, Vilus' head begins to pound, and he hears a familiar buzzing. A pinprick of light comes onto the glass display. Then another and more. 15 lights in total, and a large V-formation, creeping almost imperceptibly forward. Another beam of light is there as well, piercing the center of the formation.
Ashley gasps as she watches all the lights from the sea come into view. "I'm not sure who we need to tell, but this is big. We have to inform someone? Right? I am afraid we are staying too long in this room though..." she looks around a bit wildly, getting worried they will be found out.
Joren, sensing that the party may have found much of what they are going to find, continues keeping watch.
He attempts to glance (unseen if possible) out the window to see if the coast is clear for he and his companions to descend back to ground level outside.
Vilus tries to tap into the pain, wincing slightly as he braces himself against the apparatus in front of him. He tries latching on to whatever The Watcher is trying to tell him, he closes his eyes and starts to focus, picturing the yellow lights in the vast rolling seas, his retention of the here and now fades with the pulsing of buzzing pain in his head.
Vilus goes very still, palms pressed against the glass surface. It is a state familiar to some of those present, a trance where he tunes into the force that guides him. He seems unresponsive to his surroundings, and does not react when the glass surface begins to glow with a black light that washes out the image atop it. The light begins to swallow up the objects and details of the room, as projecting the image of a void out into the world around.
Recognition dawns on Malachi, having intruded on such a trance before. The viewing glass is projecting what Vilus sees. Soon, the only things that remains visible is the mysterious beam of yellow light at the end of the room. Only, it isn't yellow any more. It shines with the iridescence of a diamond, every colour and no colour at the same time. But yellow threads like strands of spider's silk weave a cage of knots around it.
"Oh my Lady,"Marion breathes. "I think I can undo this curse. If I can just find the right thread to snip, the whole thing should unravel."
(Anyone with proficiency in arcana can make an arcana check. Lowest DC on this is 15. Highest roll counts)
Malachi looks at the darkening glass with a sudden realization “I recognize this, we are looking inside his mind, seeing his vision from the Watcher.” Malachi’s hand moves up and rubs the marking at his temple as the image of the yellow net surrounds the light. He looks over at Marion “Free it? Is that wise, do we know what we will be freeing?” He tries to study the yellow web, seeing if he can make out a pattern or weakness. "Ashley is right, we have been here long enough. If we are going to do something, we should do it quickly."
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Joren continues to stand guard. He says nothing, but his face speaks the obvious question. Do we pull the lever?
He remembers a rhyme from an old child's tale he had once heard in the Dalmodh Plains:
Welcome hither adventurous stranger
Pull the lever, bide the danger,
Or wonder 'til it drives you mad
What would have followed if you had.
Barn(Paladin1): Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4): VitusW's Silverwood Forest | Nivi(Rogue5): Erik_Soong's Netherdeep
Joren(Fighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Quyen(Adept1, ba5ic): ConstancePhokas' Nentir Vale (Discord) | Seri(Druid1): Hunter_Orien's Saltmarsh
Xarian(Fighter3): Luna_Dust's Marks on the Map | Ophelia(Sorcerer2): BillM's Icewind Dale | Shin(Wizard1): Culuril's Strixhaven
"Vilus... is it possible you can try to speak with whatever is held within... there? With your mind?"
Ashley looks to Vilus, then to the lever, then back to Vilus. "I think I would feel it would be safer to check out this lever instead of having Vilus connect with something in this room? I could be wrong, and maybe you want to Vilus, but I am going to try this first."
She heads to the lever and unless someone stops her (which would be easy as she is open to it) she pulls the lever.
The lever glides into place at Ashley's behest. The large glass circle lights up and begins to glow much like the medallion. Large swathes of yellow point off in different directions. In a matter of seconds, the streaks shorten and condense into pinpoints sitting at various positions on the glass' surface. Lines of white light begin to emerge like cracks, gradually revealing what is unmistakably the outline of Cambria's western coast. Other details begin to fill in, such as rivers and mountains, and within a minute from flipping the switch, everyone is looking at a detailed map of Cambria.
And marked on this map are those points of light, now twinkling beacons, along with two beams of light that resemble the trapped light further back in the room. Shining down on the glass like a ray from heaven, but with no source and no illumination.
(Map up in Discord)
There are no cities or buildings shown in the map, but one beam seems to sit at right about the middle of where Tensmith would be if it were shown. Right about where this room would be, in fact. There is also a twinkling pinpoint of light right next to it, and one sitting a mile or so to the north. The other beam and two more pinpoints sit about where Talmouth should be, on the coast.
"Whoa!! Now that is cool. Though, I have no idea what to make of this." Ashley steps away from the lever and backs up a bit so that the rest can see the newly appeared map. She scratches her head as she looks down on the map, "What is it of?"
Joren shares Ashley's wonder and puzzlement.
"Are the larger beams of light representing this room and another similar one in Talmouth? And perhaps the little pinpoints of yellow light near Tensmith and Talmouth represent individuals? Possibly being cult agents such as this Andra or Marigold. Is anyone familiar with this magic?"
Barn(Paladin1): Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4): VitusW's Silverwood Forest | Nivi(Rogue5): Erik_Soong's Netherdeep
Joren(Fighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Quyen(Adept1, ba5ic): ConstancePhokas' Nentir Vale (Discord) | Seri(Druid1): Hunter_Orien's Saltmarsh
Xarian(Fighter3): Luna_Dust's Marks on the Map | Ophelia(Sorcerer2): BillM's Icewind Dale | Shin(Wizard1): Culuril's Strixhaven
Vilus is about to reply when the map pops up, he is a little taken aback from such magic but quickly composes himself and takes a closer look "oh shit, uhh, is there any more knobs or dials? We could see if we can look closer on this thing. Might give us a heading to cut off whoever these beacons represent, eh?" He looks around quickly for any more apparatus.
"Oh my..."
Samir fidgets with his glasses as he moves close to the newly revealed map for a moment. His eyes dart here and there, taking in the individual points and mentally comparing them to maps of the area that he has seen in the past. Thinking to get a better view, he moves to the desk and climbs atop it, trying to look from a greater height.
"The... beacons, shall we say, seem to obviously represent whatever it is that is encased within that column of light over there. The pinpoints of light, however... I cannot be certain what those could represent. However, given the proximity of one to the beacon here near us, I would think that we should be able to uncover whatever it might be."
As if a sudden thought had struck him, Samir starts and reaches hurriedly into his bag, withdrawing one of his books and a writing utensil. hurriedly, unsure of how long the image might last, he begains sketching a fast, rudimentary copy of the map and indicating where the beacons and points of light are.
“If the twinkling lights are cultists, there is one nearby, best be on our guard” Malachi tilts his head and studies the map “But surely there are more cultists than just those few points of light. Maybe they are marking something else? Can you tell using the map how to reach those lights? Would we recognize them if we found them?” He directs the last two questions to Samir as he sketches the map.
As Vilus looks around ne the map for more functions on the machine he finds no answers, however he does have an idea.
Hesitantly, the Goliath reaches out to the image on the screen with two fingers outstretched, as he touches the screen he drags his fingers apart and the image zooms in a little, repeating the process he zooms in far enough that the display only shows tensmith and he pin points the exact locations of the two pin points surrounding the large beam, "Samir from the positioning of the smaller motes of light, shouldn't this one be us?" He says pointing to the mote closest to the large beam, "if these represent the medallions and we know we are here, that must mean that Andra is the only other person with a medallion and he's up there" Vilus points up toward the mine where the second mote seems to be on the larger scaled map, "and then the big beam is the machine, yes? We'll need to keep this intact for now, evidence and all that but I think it needs destroying before we leave town... So for now this is a capture mission, correct? We bag the mother-cult-er and question the hell out of him, maybe use him as bait to lure out any low level shits....
Hang on I want to check the other points too" with that Vilus, somewhat distractingly, zooms the map back out and pans over to Talmouth, zooming back in he tries to pinpoint the location of each beam and mote in Talmouth
"There was talk about something coming from across the sea to the West, right? Vilus, can you zoom out further? See if there is anything out that way?" Ashley hovers near his shoulder, trying to get a view of the map that is a bit unfamiliar to her. She had an idea where these cities were, but it was interesting to see them pointed out as beams of light.
Zooming in on Talmouth, Vilus notes the locations of the other pinpricks of light, as well as the beam. He also notices that one of the lights is on the move. It is fairly close to the coast, in an area of town where Vilus knows the roads are mostly north-south and east-west, but the mote of light seems to be traveling slowly at odd angles that shouldn't be possible at street level.
"They're preparing in the tunnels under Talmouth too... shit, they might have infiltrated Dilirium." Vilus seems angry at himself a little before Ashley's question catches him off guard. "Oh yeah, I.. um, here, let's see." He zooms the map out as far as he can dragging the coast off to the east in an effort to view as much of the sea as possible, looking closely for any pinpoint pricks of light in the vastness of the deep.
Vilus swipes and swipes again, zooming west past the coast, and past the island of Skeald Rock. For five long swipes, there is nothing but still ocean. Without warning, Vilus' head begins to pound, and he hears a familiar buzzing. A pinprick of light comes onto the glass display. Then another and more. 15 lights in total, and a large V-formation, creeping almost imperceptibly forward. Another beam of light is there as well, piercing the center of the formation.
Samir watches, fascinated, and then horrified.
"Oh my... oh no.... that... It's a fleet. An invasion fleet...."
Ashley gasps as she watches all the lights from the sea come into view. "I'm not sure who we need to tell, but this is big. We have to inform someone? Right? I am afraid we are staying too long in this room though..." she looks around a bit wildly, getting worried they will be found out.
Joren, sensing that the party may have found much of what they are going to find, continues keeping watch.
He attempts to glance (unseen if possible) out the window to see if the coast is clear for he and his companions to descend back to ground level outside.
Barn(Paladin1): Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4): VitusW's Silverwood Forest | Nivi(Rogue5): Erik_Soong's Netherdeep
Joren(Fighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Quyen(Adept1, ba5ic): ConstancePhokas' Nentir Vale (Discord) | Seri(Druid1): Hunter_Orien's Saltmarsh
Xarian(Fighter3): Luna_Dust's Marks on the Map | Ophelia(Sorcerer2): BillM's Icewind Dale | Shin(Wizard1): Culuril's Strixhaven
Vilus tries to tap into the pain, wincing slightly as he braces himself against the apparatus in front of him. He tries latching on to whatever The Watcher is trying to tell him, he closes his eyes and starts to focus, picturing the yellow lights in the vast rolling seas, his retention of the here and now fades with the pulsing of buzzing pain in his head.
Everyone minus Vilus:
Vilus goes very still, palms pressed against the glass surface. It is a state familiar to some of those present, a trance where he tunes into the force that guides him. He seems unresponsive to his surroundings, and does not react when the glass surface begins to glow with a black light that washes out the image atop it. The light begins to swallow up the objects and details of the room, as projecting the image of a void out into the world around.
Recognition dawns on Malachi, having intruded on such a trance before. The viewing glass is projecting what Vilus sees. Soon, the only things that remains visible is the mysterious beam of yellow light at the end of the room. Only, it isn't yellow any more. It shines with the iridescence of a diamond, every colour and no colour at the same time. But yellow threads like strands of spider's silk weave a cage of knots around it.
"Oh my Lady," Marion breathes. "I think I can undo this curse. If I can just find the right thread to snip, the whole thing should unravel."
(Anyone with proficiency in arcana can make an arcana check. Lowest DC on this is 15. Highest roll counts)
Malachi looks at the darkening glass with a sudden realization “I recognize this, we are looking inside his mind, seeing his vision from the Watcher.” Malachi’s hand moves up and rubs the marking at his temple as the image of the yellow net surrounds the light. He looks over at Marion “Free it? Is that wise, do we know what we will be freeing?” He tries to study the yellow web, seeing if he can make out a pattern or weakness. "Ashley is right, we have been here long enough. If we are going to do something, we should do it quickly."