Putting your roguish skills to work, you begin turning the workshop over for anything reminiscent of value. Your search finds you a small wooden box tucked away on a shelf that rattles with a few coins, maybe 10gp in value total an a broken silver necklace set with a small jade stone cut in the shape of a feather, maybe 50gp in value.
For Kathra:
Digging around the work table for notes on the Spell Engine comes up dry. You do however, find a dirty travel journal that seems to have belonged to Korm. As you skim its pages hoping for some insights, you begin to get a better understanding of the mad wizard and his dark master. It seems Orlung used to be an old ogre hack-mage that once attempted the Vitrum Aquae ritual of the Seree many years back and drove himself insane with the use of impure materials and unsure understanding of the ritual's consequences. Korm, a dutiful apprentice of the ogre, and avid researcher, learned what he could of his master's research and endeavored to begin a new experiment. Taking what he could from Orlung's cave, including his master's skull, heavy with a full, if muddied, wizard's flower, Korm traveled the lands in search of an area rife with Seree influence. The tales of increased magics among the Krakhal dwarves led him to explore this area until he found the Spell Engine, buried away under this hill. There's a few pages about his first encounters with the vault servants and a note or two about his plans to fuse his master's skull with the engine via a collar similar to those the vault servants wear. There's even a note about the jackal skulls and how by interchanging those skulls with the ones normally on the servants, the constructs would take on a more combative security function. However, much of his actual research appears to be located in some other book that is occasionally referenced in the journal.
Gavin:
Digging around in a nearby trunk you find various rags and other bits of cloth that have been shredded or otherwise re-purposed. One bit catches your eye as it seems to be part of an frilled apron with a pocket that still holds a scrap of paper. Examining the bit of parchment, it appears to be some sort of list written in a delicate hand.
05:00 - Morning chores.
07:00 - Breakfast with Della. (Smiley face.)
08:00 - Shopping. (Need bread, raspberries, and cream. Della likes raspberries.)
12:00 - Lunch.
15:00 - Northern woods, supplies.
18:00 - Make tarts.
20:00 - Drag Della away from work, surprise with tarts. (Happy birthday Della!)
22:00 - Give Della necklace. (Della likes feathers.)
Everything up to the 15:00 mark has a check next to it. You can tell there is more to the list, but it must have been ripped off when the clothing was shredded.
For Mirabel:
Scrounging through a box of scrolls, you collect the pile into some semblance of order. It seems Korm was researching the Seree Ritual of Vitrum Aquae in his spare time and has mostly compiled all of the necessary information to correctly perform the spell. It doesn't seem like he has actually accomplished it though, as he fears the low quality of the remaining gems in the old mine would cause the same issues that befell his old master. However, using these notes with proper gemstones and various alchemical tools, you are certain you could accomplish the task handily enough. The question is....would you? From reading through the notes, you can discern the following:
By drinking these alchemically liquefied gemstones while meditating on spells, it is possible to crystallize (literally) the impossibly complex thoughts.
Once mastered in these controlled conditions, the spell could be drawn on almost instinctively, making difficult spells easy to cast very rapidly.
This comes at the cost of rigid, erratic personalities and mental illness, as flexible brain function is displaced by more and more spells. (To say nothing of the tragedy of failed meditations!)
While the rest of you search the room for various clues, Mub mostly moves around the room like a lost pigeon, shuffling things around and looking under various object with no real goal.
((Did we find the chest of coin and sapphires Korm showed us))
I show the letter to the group. “Looks like Della’s husband/lover was taken and this is what’s left. It makes more sense now why she was acting the way she did. Poor thing. I will take this to her, maybe it will ease her pain having it in her possession.”
i will cast detect magic as a ritual and see if anything is giving off an aura, maybe something we missed or found))
“A rogue giving away treasure to mend a broken heart. You must be romantic at heart Peren.” says Gavin giving his elven friend a quick smile and a bro-slap to the shoulder
Kathra flips through the journals she found and tosses them to Mirabel. "Here, set these on fire or something. Our friend Korm seems to have been trying to bring his old master back."
Mirabel stashes the journal he found in his bag and catches the books Kathra tossed. "Well, I'm certainly not going to leave them lying around here for another crazy wannabe spellcaster to find." He scratches his chin.
"I wonder if I can get into Candlekeep with these journals."
While his friends trade journals and plans, Gavin tries to see if there are any undetected magics about.
For Gavin:
Casting your Detect Magic ritual, you scan the room for any trace of ambient arcane energies. You mostly don't find anything....or so you first think. It's after the second pass that you notice that there is a bit of wall that seems to gloss past your detection spell like oil on water, the fluid nature of your divine power sort of pouring around it instead of centering your vision on the illusionary magics that seem to conceal a receded shelf.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
Gavin calls Peren over to the area and explains best he can what he notices. Might be worth a check for a secret hideaway and traps he suggests. “I can dispel the magical illusion after I’ve had some time to rest, but this seems like a proper job with your skills too.”
Peren pokes and prods the illusion for a few minutes, examining the area around the hidden compartment with the tools of his trade. Not immediately finding anything "dangerous," he puts his tools aside and reaches up to grab at whatever may be ensconced within. As his hands breech the threshold of the niche, bloody runes materialize on the stonework around the hole and flash with an ominous light. Pulling back just in time, Peren and the rest of the group watches as the illusion of stone drops, revealing the hole and the small chest within briefly before being consumed in a shadowy flame. When the theatrics die down, the chest remains, but it appears ghostly...almost ethereal, and wreathed in a grey-ish clear fire.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
I will cast guidance on myself for investigation check: 11
((Come on Mub and Mirabel!))
((Well, rolling for Mub.))
Investigation: 1
Mirabel investigates: 13
((Woof. Sorry for being MIA, been a real long week at work))
((And the results....))
For Peren:
Putting your roguish skills to work, you begin turning the workshop over for anything reminiscent of value. Your search finds you a small wooden box tucked away on a shelf that rattles with a few coins, maybe 10gp in value total an a broken silver necklace set with a small jade stone cut in the shape of a feather, maybe 50gp in value.
For Kathra:
Digging around the work table for notes on the Spell Engine comes up dry. You do however, find a dirty travel journal that seems to have belonged to Korm. As you skim its pages hoping for some insights, you begin to get a better understanding of the mad wizard and his dark master. It seems Orlung used to be an old ogre hack-mage that once attempted the Vitrum Aquae ritual of the Seree many years back and drove himself insane with the use of impure materials and unsure understanding of the ritual's consequences. Korm, a dutiful apprentice of the ogre, and avid researcher, learned what he could of his master's research and endeavored to begin a new experiment. Taking what he could from Orlung's cave, including his master's skull, heavy with a full, if muddied, wizard's flower, Korm traveled the lands in search of an area rife with Seree influence. The tales of increased magics among the Krakhal dwarves led him to explore this area until he found the Spell Engine, buried away under this hill. There's a few pages about his first encounters with the vault servants and a note or two about his plans to fuse his master's skull with the engine via a collar similar to those the vault servants wear. There's even a note about the jackal skulls and how by interchanging those skulls with the ones normally on the servants, the constructs would take on a more combative security function. However, much of his actual research appears to be located in some other book that is occasionally referenced in the journal.
Gavin:
Digging around in a nearby trunk you find various rags and other bits of cloth that have been shredded or otherwise re-purposed. One bit catches your eye as it seems to be part of an frilled apron with a pocket that still holds a scrap of paper. Examining the bit of parchment, it appears to be some sort of list written in a delicate hand.
Everything up to the 15:00 mark has a check next to it. You can tell there is more to the list, but it must have been ripped off when the clothing was shredded.
For Mirabel:
Scrounging through a box of scrolls, you collect the pile into some semblance of order. It seems Korm was researching the Seree Ritual of Vitrum Aquae in his spare time and has mostly compiled all of the necessary information to correctly perform the spell. It doesn't seem like he has actually accomplished it though, as he fears the low quality of the remaining gems in the old mine would cause the same issues that befell his old master. However, using these notes with proper gemstones and various alchemical tools, you are certain you could accomplish the task handily enough. The question is....would you? From reading through the notes, you can discern the following:
While the rest of you search the room for various clues, Mub mostly moves around the room like a lost pigeon, shuffling things around and looking under various object with no real goal.
((Did we find the chest of coin and sapphires Korm showed us))
I show the letter to the group. “Looks like Della’s husband/lover was taken and this is what’s left. It makes more sense now why she was acting the way she did. Poor thing. I will take this to her, maybe it will ease her pain having it in her possession.”
i will cast detect magic as a ritual and see if anything is giving off an aura, maybe something we missed or found))
((You did not. I'll post up what you find via Detect Magic after a few others check in.))
Peren will show Gavin the necklace he found, “This must be the necklace he was going to give Della, we should give it to her with the letter”
“A rogue giving away treasure to mend a broken heart. You must be romantic at heart Peren.” says Gavin giving his elven friend a quick smile and a bro-slap to the shoulder
Kathra flips through the journals she found and tosses them to Mirabel. "Here, set these on fire or something. Our friend Korm seems to have been trying to bring his old master back."
Mirabel stashes the journal he found in his bag and catches the books Kathra tossed. "Well, I'm certainly not going to leave them lying around here for another crazy wannabe spellcaster to find." He scratches his chin.
"I wonder if I can get into Candlekeep with these journals."
While his friends trade journals and plans, Gavin tries to see if there are any undetected magics about.
For Gavin:
Casting your Detect Magic ritual, you scan the room for any trace of ambient arcane energies. You mostly don't find anything....or so you first think. It's after the second pass that you notice that there is a bit of wall that seems to gloss past your detection spell like oil on water, the fluid nature of your divine power sort of pouring around it instead of centering your vision on the illusionary magics that seem to conceal a receded shelf.
Gavin calls Peren over to the area and explains best he can what he notices. Might be worth a check for a secret hideaway and traps he suggests. “I can dispel the magical illusion after I’ve had some time to rest, but this seems like a proper job with your skills too.”
((Peren, I'm going to want a Wisdom check from you with your Thieve's Tools proficiency bonus added in.))
18
Dang
Peren pokes and prods the illusion for a few minutes, examining the area around the hidden compartment with the tools of his trade. Not immediately finding anything "dangerous," he puts his tools aside and reaches up to grab at whatever may be ensconced within. As his hands breech the threshold of the niche, bloody runes materialize on the stonework around the hole and flash with an ominous light. Pulling back just in time, Peren and the rest of the group watches as the illusion of stone drops, revealing the hole and the small chest within briefly before being consumed in a shadowy flame. When the theatrics die down, the chest remains, but it appears ghostly...almost ethereal, and wreathed in a grey-ish clear fire.
Kathra points at the chest. "I'm no wizard, but... I don't think that was supposed to happen."
((Is this the chest that Krom showed us earlier, or is it different. Other than the ghostly ethreallless of course :) ))
”Mirabel, any ideas on this one?”
((It is the same chest.))
((Can I use mage hand and try to pick up the chest))
((You are welcome to try.))