Titaani moves to disembark, only for the others to indicate that there is nothing there of use. "Just as well," She sulks, "I probably wouldn't have gotten back on again."
The boat silently and mysteriously pushes forward down the dim, flooded hallway under flickering blue lights. Dark waters, teeming with dreamy but unsettling visions, lap quietly against its hull.
It smoothly stops at another set of double doors near the hallway's end.
Pud looks in the water. The faces, the monsters, the visions all seem disconnected from this world, other than the emotionless glances they give to you from the other side. They do not react to the boat, nor to your new destination.
Ben opens the doors. A dozen floating candles cast dim, flickering lights over a sepulchral, windowless library. Ebony bookshelves are filled with volumes bound in jet-black fabric. The books have no titles on their spines. In the middle of the room, a black quill pen rests on a writing desk next to a jar of black ink.
(Whoops! I just realized you wanted to stop at each door along the way, but I accidentally skipped the first. Sorry about that. You are certainly welcome to open those doors if you go back that way.)
Titaani steps forward into the dark library, under the floating candles, picking out a jet-black book from an ebony bookshelf. Like the others, it has no title on its spine. She finds that the cover, like its spine, also has no title. Opening it, she discovers that its pages are blank apart from the first page, on which a thin line has been scribed.
The librarian scoffs at Matilda's question. "You think I just know that? You think I haven't spent hundreds of hours trying to solve that? Feh!" He brushes Matilda away by gesturing with the back of his hand.
"Money..." he responds to Titaani. "I never understood the coin system anyway. You're on your own with the 'money' stuff."
"That helmed knight was battling Kelek and Warduke in the study, I'm told," he answers Ben. "Warduke used his horn to punch a hole in the wall and sent the knight hurtling through it. But then an instant later, the palace was frozen in time. Warduke and Kelek were later released from temporal stasis by the Hourglass Coven, I was told."
"The secret library! Yes. Good idea. It's over the Carriage House." He points due south. "Zybilna keeps her most prized books in it. But you have to go all the way around the Court of Storms to get to it. That means through the Ballroom – I'm not sure that there's another way around – up the stairs, and through the Flooded Hall. Hold on..."
He pulls out a quill and scribbles some titles on a piece of parchment before handing it to Ben. "These books might interest you..."
The titles read: The City That Waits The Faceless Lord I, Lyzandred Kingdom of the Ghouls The Many Masques of Mith Nadir of Nessus Prophecies of Explictica Defilus Thingizzard’s Night Balloon
Ben:
Pulling out a piece of parchment, Ben goes over to the desk and addresses the quill. Feeling a little silly but knowing they have met animated objects here before, he asks, “Excuse me, we are here to help the queen and need to read some books. Can you help us?”
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Matilda sat down on the floor of the Library, " Um....Guys? Why does everyone outside the Palace think of the Queen as this regal figure that will make everything right.......but the Hags and everything we've seen in here seems to make her out to be something maybe worse than the Hags....."
"A blank book...there's a line here," Titaani gestures towards it, then spots the quill in his hand. "Oh, perfect!"
She grabs it and scribbles her name on the line before turning to Matilda with a frown. "But sis, the archfey are good. They always are."
" I know.....but Elkhorns friends are supposed to be good too and they said she's bad....or at least someone with one of the names...........why does someone need so many names anyway?"
Taking the quill, Titaani writes "Titaani"in black ink on the line in the blank book she selected. Nothing happens. And then something does: the ink swiftly evaporates from the page, leaving it blank once again.
"Oh, I don't know that Iggwilv was evil, per see," interrupts Ringlerun, overhearing Matilda, "if that's who she truly is. But there was certainly a ruthlessness to Iggwilv, perhaps; magic-fueled ambitions which brought her into contact with demons and demon lords, which she subjugated and used against her enemies. She sought power, and made many enemies. And at least one legendary book." Ringlerun's voice trails off as he begins to examine one book after the next, looking for clues. He finds none.
"My understanding is that this whole realm will collapse and die without the queen. Given what I have seen of the Hags, I would not trust them at all, so I suspect that rescuing the queen is still the right thing to do," responds Ben.
"If I may," asks Ben, reaching for the quill and book, "perhaps this will work." Ben writes the name of the first book on the list from the librarian on the line -- "The City That Waits".
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Ben takes the quill and writes on the line "The City That Waits" which was a title recommended by the hunchbacked librarian downstairs.
This time, the pages fill with ink – an entire book becomes filled with writing. Flipping through it, Ben finds that The City That Waits is one explorer’s treatise about Moil, a demiplane that houses a city of haunted spires. Interesting, but he sees no relevance to this domain they are in.
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" Baby? Oh.....creepy baby......"
Ben:
"Yeah, we are definitely not needed here," says Ben, noping out of this door and closing it. Staying on the boat, he waits for it to continue forward.
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Titaani moves to disembark, only for the others to indicate that there is nothing there of use. "Just as well," She sulks, "I probably wouldn't have gotten back on again."
The boat silently and mysteriously pushes forward down the dim, flooded hallway under flickering blue lights. Dark waters, teeming with dreamy but unsettling visions, lap quietly against its hull.
It smoothly stops at another set of double doors near the hallway's end.
Ben:
Opening the double doors, Ben prepares to lead the way out, though he pauses before stepping off the boat to see what might lie in the room beyond.
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Pud peeks over the edge to see if any of the monsters are tracking them or reacting in anyway.
Pronouns: he/him/his
Pud - lvl 7 Human Artificer - Alchemist (The Wild Beyond the Witchlight).
Quinn - lvl 4 Human Ranger - Hunter (Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk)
Pud looks in the water. The faces, the monsters, the visions all seem disconnected from this world, other than the emotionless glances they give to you from the other side. They do not react to the boat, nor to your new destination.
Ben opens the doors. A dozen floating candles cast dim, flickering lights over a sepulchral, windowless library. Ebony bookshelves are filled with volumes bound in jet-black fabric. The books have no titles on their spines. In the middle of the room, a black quill pen rests on a writing desk next to a jar of black ink.
(Whoops! I just realized you wanted to stop at each door along the way, but I accidentally skipped the first. Sorry about that. You are certainly welcome to open those doors if you go back that way.)
" Books.....Library? Worth a look?", Matilda ventures reluctantly.
"Gotta be it, right?" Horatio makes sure everyone gets off together before he disembarks.
Titaani immediately jumps off the boat and flips through the first book she sees.
Titaani steps forward into the dark library, under the floating candles, picking out a jet-black book from an ebony bookshelf. Like the others, it has no title on its spine. She finds that the cover, like its spine, also has no title. Opening it, she discovers that its pages are blank apart from the first page, on which a thin line has been scribed.
Ben:
Pulling out a piece of parchment, Ben goes over to the desk and addresses the quill. Feeling a little silly but knowing they have met animated objects here before, he asks, “Excuse me, we are here to help the queen and need to read some books. Can you help us?”
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Neither the black quill pen nor the jar of black ink on the writing desk responds. The floating candles flicker a little.
Ben:
Walking over, Ben asks, “What have you found, Titaani? Anything useful?” as he looks over her shoulder somewhat nonplussed by the blank pages.
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Matilda sat down on the floor of the Library, " Um....Guys? Why does everyone outside the Palace think of the Queen as this regal figure that will make everything right.......but the Hags and everything we've seen in here seems to make her out to be something maybe worse than the Hags....."
" Should we just leave her frozen?"
"A blank book...there's a line here," Titaani gestures towards it, then spots the quill in his hand. "Oh, perfect!"
She grabs it and scribbles her name on the line before turning to Matilda with a frown. "But sis, the archfey are good. They always are."
" I know.....but Elkhorns friends are supposed to be good too and they said she's bad....or at least someone with one of the names...........why does someone need so many names anyway?"
Taking the quill, Titaani writes "Titaani" in black ink on the line in the blank book she selected. Nothing happens. And then something does: the ink swiftly evaporates from the page, leaving it blank once again.
"Oh, I don't know that Iggwilv was evil, per see," interrupts Ringlerun, overhearing Matilda, "if that's who she truly is. But there was certainly a ruthlessness to Iggwilv, perhaps; magic-fueled ambitions which brought her into contact with demons and demon lords, which she subjugated and used against her enemies. She sought power, and made many enemies. And at least one legendary book." Ringlerun's voice trails off as he begins to examine one book after the next, looking for clues. He finds none.
Ben:
"My understanding is that this whole realm will collapse and die without the queen. Given what I have seen of the Hags, I would not trust them at all, so I suspect that rescuing the queen is still the right thing to do," responds Ben.
"If I may," asks Ben, reaching for the quill and book, "perhaps this will work." Ben writes the name of the first book on the list from the librarian on the line -- "The City That Waits".
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Ben takes the quill and writes on the line "The City That Waits" which was a title recommended by the hunchbacked librarian downstairs.
This time, the pages fill with ink – an entire book becomes filled with writing. Flipping through it, Ben finds that The City That Waits is one explorer’s treatise about Moil, a demiplane that houses a city of haunted spires. Interesting, but he sees no relevance to this domain they are in.