Towards the end of the rest, perhaps due to the influence of the magical environment, Khessa at a certain point has a vision:
Rethos, his brother, wearing the characteristic armor of the Blue Knight, advances with determination towards the party... but is struck directly by a bolt of lightning thrown by Coriana!
Khessa's blue eyes widen in shock as she sees Coriana mercilessly attack Rethos with one of her most devastating spells! "Coriana!" a mix of an anguished cry and a furious growl erupts from her lips. "What the heck were you thinking!? My brother is just a boy!"
The rest of the scene momentarily loses relevance as the boy collapses to the ground. The blonde arcane warrior immediately rushes to check on her brother. Yes, he's alive. An indescribable relief calms her storm of emotions, but more must be done—he must be kept alive. The battle can wait. She takes the Blue Knight in her arms and carries him aside, out of the fray, heedless of any blows that may reach her as she carries him to safety. She can take a beating. She will heal. And she wants him to live and heal too.
The tall adventuress then gently sets him on the ground and, taking her Healer's Kit from her backpack, proceeds to heal his lightning burns. When he no longer appears to be in mortal danger, she kisses him gently on the forehead, as she would have done long ago when wishing him goodnight, and murmurs: "Rest easy. Khessa will take you out of trouble as usual. Ill be back in no time".
"Yes, in no time..." the blonde arcane warrior is still muttering when the vision finally fades. For a moment, she stares intently at Coriana, as reality takes over again... then she shakes her head, as if that will help chase away the last remnants of the vision, and she forces a smile at everyone: "This place is definitely... peculiar."
Despite the unpleasant final upset, rest has worked wonders on Khessa, and she, with her mind and body perfectly restored, tries to examine the bottom room more closely, the one with the southern wall dominated by carved bookshelves that stretch from floor to ceiling! If there are still writings on some of the bookshelves, she is very curious to read them (even just a few excerpts to get an idea, if there are books or very long texts—just to at least understand the theme, let's say).
Feeling better after resting a bit Theldrin eventually emerges from his revery pondering the implications of living spells, and decides to take a quick but cautious look around the area. He's concerned there might be traps so he doesn't get too aggressive with his search, but mentally makes notes to come back for anything that looks enticing.
Investigation: 723
(OOC: are there books and scrolls or just shelves/racks where they seem to have been in the past?).
The rest helps Xanrym to recover from the poisonous cloud, and talking with the others seems to lift the dark gloom of this place for a while. He thanks Syllen for the blessing. (OOC: Xanrym spends 3 HD to return to max HP: 5 + 4 + 9, rolled on the character sheet / game log)
After their rest, Xanrym starts with a ritual casting of Comprehend Languages. Like Khessa, he would like to spend some time investigating the scrolls and books in the smaller room (S16) and some of the books in the larger room (S17). The spell helps him to read anything written in a language that he doesn't know. He scans the titles or opens books to read a page or two. Like Khessa, he's trying to get a sense of the collection in case they need to return here for information. Perhaps there's some specific information that might help them understand what lead to the Plagueburst, the Ash Doom plague, or even just hints about what else they might find in the Necromancer's Spike. Investigation: 13
But Xanrym realizes that going through the entire of books collection could take all day, and The Company is still focused on finding Fadheela. Xanrym moves on to searching the rooms for anything that could be immediately useful, such as a key or map. He also looks for any valuables, such as rings, art, and even books about rare topics, like the drow and their magic, aboleths, or illithids. Rare books about esoteric topics could be valuable additions to his personal library back at Grey Gardens (their bastion). Since they've already seen secret doors in this place, Xanrym takes a moment to check the furniture (especially the desks) for secret compartments, false bottoms, or hidden draws. Perception: 21
Since The Company took a rest immediately after the fight, he also suggests that part of The Company explore the Hall of Audience (S15) to see whether there's anything useful or valuable there. Once they're done searching these 3 rooms, The Company will need to decide where to go next.
Khessa and Xanrym find on the shelves to the south three scrolls containing the spells: Create Undead , Haste , and Vampiric Touch . The notes on the bookshelf are all written in different scripts, mainly research notes written for a wizard named Maroe. Every few notes are some personal notes, these are your general youthful pleasantries, talking about dreams for the future and intense passions. The book in the room to the north contains the diary of someone describing themselves as the 'Head Apprentice". The notes talk about the "other apprentices" and about how he hopes that Maroe spares at least a few this year... but you can tell from the writing that he's not holding out much hope.
In the meantime Theldrin finds two secret doors to the west in both rooms. Both seem similar to the ones on the first and second level, easily pushed open and no obvious traps.
Khessa and Xanrym find on the shelves to the south three scrolls containing the spells: Create Undead , Haste , and Vampiric Touch .
When he finds the 3 scrolls, Xanrym is confused why he cannot read them even with his Comprehend Languages. He hands the scrolls to Khessa to see what she can make of them, and when she reveals them to be spell scrolls, he shrugs and says, "I suppose the spells of this Necromancer must be beyond my skill with magic." Khessa may not have apprenticed under a wizard, but at least she had a comprehensive spellbook to study. Xanrym's education is even more haphazard. He was quick to learn his letters, and ever since he had access to books, he has picked up bits of knowledge here and there in his studies. A few of his spells have come from ancient poems where the words of the spell were in the poem itself, and some sage had helpfully transcribed additional notes about the spell in the margin of an old scroll. Others are spells that he learned from an old hedge witch or that he copied from studying Liarin or Theldrin carefully. Xanrym is never sure whether a spell he finds will "speak to him," but he knows that these three spell scrolls do not! He suggests perhaps dividing the scrolls among Khessa, Theldrin, and Coriana.
The notes on the bookshelf are all written in different scripts, mainly research notes written for a wizard named Maroe. Every few notes are some personal notes, these are your general youthful pleasantries, talking about dreams for the future and intense passions. The book in the room to the north contains the diary of someone describing themselves as the 'Head Apprentice". The notes talk about the "other apprentices" and about how he hopes that Maroe spares at least a few this year... but you can tell from the writing that he's not holding out much hope.
Xanrym says, "Based on these notes, it sounds like the Necromancer's name was 'Maroe'." He shares what he learns with the others in case it becomes relevant as they explore the rest of the Necromancer's Spike. Xanrym wonders whether the apprentices were killed or whether they ended up as the subjects of Maroe's experiments.
In the meantime Theldrin finds two secret doors to the west in both rooms. Both seem similar to the ones on the first and second level, easily pushed open and no obvious traps.
Xanrym puts the map he's been drafting as they go through the Necromancer's Spike on the large table (with the manacles) in the Hall of Audience and asks where everyone wants to go next. "There's the closed door here," he points at the closed door on the east of this room. "But if Fadheela was able to get past the Living Spells, perhaps she went up the stairs to the next level? If Maroe accepted any visitors when he was alive, I suppose that he kept them down on the first level. Now that we've gone through multiple secret doors and up to the 3rd level, it seems like we've found the level where Maroe's apprentices worked and studied. Perhaps going higher will take us to Maroe's private chambers? Or should we try one of the secret doors, assuming that the secret doors always lead somewhere hidden and, hence, more interesting?"
Oh! And Xanrym is always looking to pick up extra supplies for writing, taking notes on The Company's adventures, and making maps. If there's any blank scrolls or sheets of paper or parchment in good condition or any bottles of ink that have not dried out in either of these rooms, Xanrym would take them to replenish his supplies.
Xanrym takes the "latest" of Maroe's journals that he finds, hoping to study it later and learn more about what lead to the Plagueburst. If he finds any books that seem rare or valuable, he at least sets those aside in a separate pile, hoping to come back and collect them later once The Company has found and dealt with Fadheela. Privately, he's thinking that if The Company has to spend the night in the Necromancer's Spike, they could come back to the study hall, and he could pass the time reading through more of the books.
Khessa is fascinated by both the notes and the Spell Scrolls, jotting down a plethora of interesting insights from her readings in her spellbook. However, she visibly frowns at the passage expressing the hope that 'Maroe spares at least a few' of the apprentices... Does this mean she usually experimented on them, every last one? Perhaps turning them into undead? Or... into Living Spells?!
When offered the scrolls, the blonde arcane warrior considers the Spell Scroll most potentially useful to her to be Vampiric Touch—to be used in a situation where she wants to prioritize healing herself over doing great harm. She leaves the other two to Coriana and Theldrin.
The tall adventuress listens attentively to Xanrim's musings on the path forward and agrees: "I think Fadheela would have been interested in reaching the next level, thinking as you did, my friend. I'd say we should ascend as well."
"I have a nice array of scrolls already, if you would like these..." Theldrin says to Coriana. He admires the Haste scroll, "Now this is a nice find!" as he offers it to her, while eyeing the Create Undead scroll with obvious distaste.
He rubs his beard and frowns as he considers the Company's next move, "I must admit, once again I am curious as to what lies behind the secret doors I found... yet I agree that our path probably is indeed up the stairs, climbing further into the Spike."
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Towards the end of the rest, perhaps due to the influence of the magical environment, Khessa at a certain point has a vision:
Rethos, his brother, wearing the characteristic armor of the Blue Knight, advances with determination towards the party... but is struck directly by a bolt of lightning thrown by Coriana!
Khessa's blue eyes widen in shock as she sees Coriana mercilessly attack Rethos with one of her most devastating spells! "Coriana!" a mix of an anguished cry and a furious growl erupts from her lips. "What the heck were you thinking!? My brother is just a boy!"
The rest of the scene momentarily loses relevance as the boy collapses to the ground. The blonde arcane warrior immediately rushes to check on her brother. Yes, he's alive. An indescribable relief calms her storm of emotions, but more must be done—he must be kept alive. The battle can wait. She takes the Blue Knight in her arms and carries him aside, out of the fray, heedless of any blows that may reach her as she carries him to safety. She can take a beating. She will heal. And she wants him to live and heal too.
The tall adventuress then gently sets him on the ground and, taking her Healer's Kit from her backpack, proceeds to heal his lightning burns. When he no longer appears to be in mortal danger, she kisses him gently on the forehead, as she would have done long ago when wishing him goodnight, and murmurs: "Rest easy. Khessa will take you out of trouble as usual. Ill be back in no time".
"Yes, in no time..." the blonde arcane warrior is still muttering when the vision finally fades. For a moment, she stares intently at Coriana, as reality takes over again... then she shakes her head, as if that will help chase away the last remnants of the vision, and she forces a smile at everyone: "This place is definitely... peculiar."
Khessa uses her Arcane Recovery feature to get her 2nd level slot back, then she starts using HDs to recover HPs
Fighter HD: 10
Fighter HD: 11
Wizard HD: 8
[[ OOC: Great! Khessa is back at full HP ]]
Despite the unpleasant final upset, rest has worked wonders on Khessa, and she, with her mind and body perfectly restored, tries to examine the bottom room more closely, the one with the southern wall dominated by carved bookshelves that stretch from floor to ceiling! If there are still writings on some of the bookshelves, she is very curious to read them (even just a few excerpts to get an idea, if there are books or very long texts—just to at least understand the theme, let's say).
(OOC: At the end of the short rest Syllen speaks a few word of encouragement. Everyone gets 10 Temp HP)
(OOC: Theldrin will use Arcane Recovery to regain a 3rd level slot)
Feeling better after resting a bit Theldrin eventually emerges from his revery pondering the implications of living spells, and decides to take a quick but cautious look around the area. He's concerned there might be traps so he doesn't get too aggressive with his search, but mentally makes notes to come back for anything that looks enticing.
Investigation: 723
(OOC: are there books and scrolls or just shelves/racks where they seem to have been in the past?).
(OOC: ignore the 7 there, 23 for the roll)
The rest helps Xanrym to recover from the poisonous cloud, and talking with the others seems to lift the dark gloom of this place for a while. He thanks Syllen for the blessing.
(OOC: Xanrym spends 3 HD to return to max HP: 5 + 4 + 9, rolled on the character sheet / game log)
After their rest, Xanrym starts with a ritual casting of Comprehend Languages. Like Khessa, he would like to spend some time investigating the scrolls and books in the smaller room (S16) and some of the books in the larger room (S17). The spell helps him to read anything written in a language that he doesn't know. He scans the titles or opens books to read a page or two. Like Khessa, he's trying to get a sense of the collection in case they need to return here for information. Perhaps there's some specific information that might help them understand what lead to the Plagueburst, the Ash Doom plague, or even just hints about what else they might find in the Necromancer's Spike.
Investigation: 13
But Xanrym realizes that going through the entire of books collection could take all day, and The Company is still focused on finding Fadheela. Xanrym moves on to searching the rooms for anything that could be immediately useful, such as a key or map. He also looks for any valuables, such as rings, art, and even books about rare topics, like the drow and their magic, aboleths, or illithids. Rare books about esoteric topics could be valuable additions to his personal library back at Grey Gardens (their bastion). Since they've already seen secret doors in this place, Xanrym takes a moment to check the furniture (especially the desks) for secret compartments, false bottoms, or hidden draws.
Perception: 21
Since The Company took a rest immediately after the fight, he also suggests that part of The Company explore the Hall of Audience (S15) to see whether there's anything useful or valuable there. Once they're done searching these 3 rooms, The Company will need to decide where to go next.
Avery nods, "I'll go with whoever wants to take a look."
Khessa and Xanrym find on the shelves to the south three scrolls containing the spells: Create Undead , Haste , and Vampiric Touch . The notes on the bookshelf are all written in different scripts, mainly research notes written for a wizard named Maroe. Every few notes are some personal notes, these are your general youthful pleasantries, talking about dreams for the future and intense passions. The book in the room to the north contains the diary of someone describing themselves as the 'Head Apprentice". The notes talk about the "other apprentices" and about how he hopes that Maroe spares at least a few this year... but you can tell from the writing that he's not holding out much hope.
In the meantime Theldrin finds two secret doors to the west in both rooms. Both seem similar to the ones on the first and second level, easily pushed open and no obvious traps.
(OOC: Did anyone search the larger Hall of Audience (S15) while Xanrym, Khessa, and Theldrin searched the office and library?)
When he finds the 3 scrolls, Xanrym is confused why he cannot read them even with his Comprehend Languages. He hands the scrolls to Khessa to see what she can make of them, and when she reveals them to be spell scrolls, he shrugs and says, "I suppose the spells of this Necromancer must be beyond my skill with magic." Khessa may not have apprenticed under a wizard, but at least she had a comprehensive spellbook to study. Xanrym's education is even more haphazard. He was quick to learn his letters, and ever since he had access to books, he has picked up bits of knowledge here and there in his studies. A few of his spells have come from ancient poems where the words of the spell were in the poem itself, and some sage had helpfully transcribed additional notes about the spell in the margin of an old scroll. Others are spells that he learned from an old hedge witch or that he copied from studying Liarin or Theldrin carefully. Xanrym is never sure whether a spell he finds will "speak to him," but he knows that these three spell scrolls do not! He suggests perhaps dividing the scrolls among Khessa, Theldrin, and Coriana.
Xanrym says, "Based on these notes, it sounds like the Necromancer's name was 'Maroe'." He shares what he learns with the others in case it becomes relevant as they explore the rest of the Necromancer's Spike. Xanrym wonders whether the apprentices were killed or whether they ended up as the subjects of Maroe's experiments.
Xanrym puts the map he's been drafting as they go through the Necromancer's Spike on the large table (with the manacles) in the Hall of Audience and asks where everyone wants to go next. "There's the closed door here," he points at the closed door on the east of this room. "But if Fadheela was able to get past the Living Spells, perhaps she went up the stairs to the next level? If Maroe accepted any visitors when he was alive, I suppose that he kept them down on the first level. Now that we've gone through multiple secret doors and up to the 3rd level, it seems like we've found the level where Maroe's apprentices worked and studied. Perhaps going higher will take us to Maroe's private chambers? Or should we try one of the secret doors, assuming that the secret doors always lead somewhere hidden and, hence, more interesting?"
Oh! And Xanrym is always looking to pick up extra supplies for writing, taking notes on The Company's adventures, and making maps. If there's any blank scrolls or sheets of paper or parchment in good condition or any bottles of ink that have not dried out in either of these rooms, Xanrym would take them to replenish his supplies.
Xanrym takes the "latest" of Maroe's journals that he finds, hoping to study it later and learn more about what lead to the Plagueburst. If he finds any books that seem rare or valuable, he at least sets those aside in a separate pile, hoping to come back and collect them later once The Company has found and dealt with Fadheela. Privately, he's thinking that if The Company has to spend the night in the Necromancer's Spike, they could come back to the study hall, and he could pass the time reading through more of the books.
Khessa is fascinated by both the notes and the Spell Scrolls, jotting down a plethora of interesting insights from her readings in her spellbook. However, she visibly frowns at the passage expressing the hope that 'Maroe spares at least a few' of the apprentices... Does this mean she usually experimented on them, every last one? Perhaps turning them into undead? Or... into Living Spells?!
When offered the scrolls, the blonde arcane warrior considers the Spell Scroll most potentially useful to her to be Vampiric Touch—to be used in a situation where she wants to prioritize healing herself over doing great harm. She leaves the other two to Coriana and Theldrin.
The tall adventuress listens attentively to Xanrim's musings on the path forward and agrees: "I think Fadheela would have been interested in reaching the next level, thinking as you did, my friend. I'd say we should ascend as well."
"I have a nice array of scrolls already, if you would like these..." Theldrin says to Coriana. He admires the Haste scroll, "Now this is a nice find!" as he offers it to her, while eyeing the Create Undead scroll with obvious distaste.
He rubs his beard and frowns as he considers the Company's next move, "I must admit, once again I am curious as to what lies behind the secret doors I found... yet I agree that our path probably is indeed up the stairs, climbing further into the Spike."