Dragon of Icespire Peak ***CLOSED***

The elven mage turns towards the artificer.

" Friend Tink, while I am not overmuch surprised by fair Thuniviel's expeditive stance - a common occurrence in his approach to problem-solving, that much has been shown on many an occasion - yet I feel both chagrined and surprised by thy own lack of curiosity ! What if yon parchment contained vital information ? Are we not searching for knowledge, thou and I ? No, I intend to keep said-writings... Let us simply remove ourselves away from these plants' impending approach."

As if to illustrate her thoughts, the elf magus puts the scroll away in the folds of her overcoat and starts moving back towards the manse's main hallway. She calls over her shoulder:

" If anyone needeth my help, I shall be sun-bathing out yonder. Argon Annaleh, I bid thee all farewell ! Come, Arvi, let us adjourn forthwith."

Connak scratches his head, brow furrowed, "So that's it?  You found a scroll and now you don't care about the rest of grand-maman's old manse?  I guess the rest of us will explore the other floors and figure out what is going on here."

" Oh, but  I shall be along shortly, Thuniviel, never thou mindeth ! Don't prickle thyself on yon thorns, now..." the elf's voice recedes down the corridor as she makes her way towards the exit.

The blights busy themselves with their corpse gathering, largely ignoring the party with the exception of the curious vine blight which trades taps and pokes with W.H.I.S.K.E.R. as the two try to figure out what each other are. Though the sentient plants do not speak, their behavior comes across as almost childlike, the taller vines seeming akin to older adolescents minding the subordinate twigs, much like a group of orphaned street urchins might govern themselves in the absence of proper adult supervision. It occurred to more than one member of the party that this collection of blights behaves quite differently than others they'd encountered: aloof yet docile, as opposed to the typical aggression coupled with surprise attacks common in the species throughout Faerun.

Tabesha'l makes her way through the house and back out the front door without incident while the others sort of continue to take in the strange scene, collect their wits, catch their breath and perhaps mend a few wounds...of which there were plenty that needed mending. Once they were out of eyesight of the others, Arvi cloaked himself with his innate invisibility and crouched in a corner to observe the others while his mistress retreated to privacy on the lawn amid the boar and shapechanger carcasses.

After the blights finish moving the orc bodies to the well, one of the twigs returns to the shaman's chambers, collects the the potion bottles on the floor and attempts to deliver them to W.H.I.S.K.E.R. The creature's stiff, dry, spindly "fingers" struggled to control the smooth glass bottles and one slipped from it's grasp, shattering on the ground spilling a viscous, grey liquid splashes onto Tink's companion. The potion quickly coalesces into two tiny, grey spherical beads that float slowly up to and enter into orbit around W.H.I.S.K.E.R.'s head...the twig blight quickly lowers the other bottle to the ground and dashes away to join the rest of his brood a few feet away.

(OOC: an Intelligence (Arcana) check may reveal the nature of the potion affecting W.H.I.S.K.E.R.)

Vaxis is in absolute shock over both the rune disappearing and the weird scene before him. he FINALLY shakes it off, and says, "I...THINK....this place is cleansed....Did we do what we came here for? Because I am ready to leave here...you know....if the DEMON is ready to go." He glares a bit at Tabesha'l, but softens his look as to not be overjudging.

Tink turns to Tabesha'l and responds, "But do you not also find this spectacle incredibly intriguing. I'm not sure about you elves, but a gnome like myself has never seen such a sight. At least not in Lentan. And I must say in regards to those potions...."

The crash of breaking glass stops Tink mid sentence as she spins to see the source and find W.H.I.S.K.E.R. with the orbs orbiting her head. Raising a curious eyebrow, Tink carefully picks up the remaining bottle and carefully scrutinizes both its contents and the beads orbiting her metallic companions' head.

Arcana 16

Vaxis frowns. "Mistress Tink, I shall cast a spell so that you may find your answer swiftly." Vaxis offers a prayer to Bahamut. "Lord of the Wind, guide this young one ot the answer she seeks!"

(Casting guidance on Tink)

"Why thank you Vaxis. Your assistance is much appreciated!"

Guidance: 1

After the grey beads begin to swirl around W.H.I.S.K.E.R.'s head, Tink recognizes the effects of a potion of possibility. The other in-tact potion bottle lying at the mechanical cat's feet looks to be of the same type and quantity.

Minsys shirft from foot to foot impatiently.  He sighed, "We done here or we kicking down more doors?  Maybe not kick... because... traps..." As he said that his hand idly moved over where the spike impaled him.

"My my! What a find! These my friends are....well is a potion of possibility. It contains the power to give its drinker the ability to cheat fate twice. Very rare these potions," Tink frowns as she looks over at Whisker, "I'm not sure if its effects are best used on you Whikser. Perhaps we should try and scrape it back into a bottle?"

"Nah..  just send it in first, right?" Minsys says.  He leans down by the metallic animal.  "Yous the vanguard now ."

Back outside the manse, Tabesha'l sits down in a thicket of scrub, checking her wounds and closing her eyes as she sends her demonic familiar scouting about. The elf wizard sighs with frustration: she knows the Quasit is having an effect on her morale, yet she is too eager to get back inside the building to give it the attention required.

" Let us discover whatever happened to my ancestor," she thinks to herself, as images flood her consciousness coming from Arvi's eyes, " I shall attempt to resolve matters with Arvi later on..."

Unbeknownst to her, that slight tinge of demonic temptation starts to take hold and suddenly grows in her mind. After all, she is a Being of Power and Arvi is delivering it. Why would she not use this new tool to increase her knowledge ? Aren't the concepts of 'Goodness' or 'Loyalty' just that, mere abstract, empty ideas favored by the weak ? Why would she not simply use her Arcane Craft as she pleases, and punish those who dare taunt her and challenge her soon-to-be greatness and utter wisdom ? Who would be so bold as to stop her from doing so ? Would she not do the world a favor in pushing forth her own agenda, after all ?

A cruel smile plays on her lips as she considers all the myriad possibilities. In the back of her mind, she hears Arvi's tiny, but relentless voice: "YES. OH YES, MISTRESS !!! TAKE WHAT IS OURS TO TAKE ! I, ARVIITHIX SHALL HELP YOU AND MAKE IT SO, OH MY MISTRESS OF MISCHIEF !"

(Update: rolls her 3rd Hit die)

2

(she is now 20/27 HP)

(THE PARTY TAKES A SHORT REST)

Arvi reports back to Tabesha'l that he has located a library that extends through both upperand lower floors of the house, separated by a balcony circling the upper level about 10 above the lower. "Mistress, it appears that there is a wealth of knowledge to be mined from this place," he tells her telepathically. "The texts appear to be written in Elvish..."

Connak Hit Die rolls:

6

10

Short rest 18

Minsys looks at the books and grabs one off the shelf.  He tosses it to the center of the room and then grabs another and does the same.  "Good room to start the fire," he says as he tosses another into the pile.

Whisker gives  Minsys a hiss and then walks off to lay down for a bit. Tink too is grateful for the break and tends to her wounds.*

Short Rest (Use 2 hd)
9
5

Tabesha'l frowns as her familiar sends her the telepathic image of Minsys wrecking the library. 

" Very well, then. T'would seem than our half-bred barbaric companion needs a little lesson in manners... Arvi, I give thee leave to deal with such as thou seeth fit. Just do make sure he's not physically hurt, as we may still need his brawns, even though his brains are obviously not in full-fledged functionality. On thee goeth: make mama proud, now... !"

 There isn't even any attempt to contain the obvious glee that fills the elven arcanist at the prospect of her demonic pet playing all sorts of tricks on one of her own party members. 'After all, if the fools decide to behave in such crude ways, they deserve all the punishments they shall encounter,'  she justifies herself inwardly... unaware that with every passing moment, wicked callousness mixed with the intent to hurt grow stronger and stronger in her soul, as she falls deeper under the Quasit's influence  !

Arvi floats into the library where Minsys is preparing a pile of books. He releases his invisibility and addresses the barbarian: "Excuse me, orc-man - why burn all of these fabulous tomes? Just because you are hardly literate doesn't mean that someone else couldn't harvest their secrets and power...maybe let one of the uh, more educated among you take a look before you go rubbing two sticks together, hmm?"