Lost Mine of Phandelver

Marcon snorts and gives a tired looking half-smiles at Rigel. "Not to get all technical, as we don't know it's history. Only where it was found. Which considering a dragon had it, probably says a lot." He replied. "Still, I'm good man. Keep it. No offense, but you'll probably need it more than me in a pinch if crap actually gets to that point, and really goes sideways. And yea, I know it sounds a bit arrogant, but... eh. That's just how I feel. But, uh... thanks fer the offer, I guess."

Turning to Van, Rigel says, "So all I'm really interest in is, was your escape magical or practicle in nature? Like I said, I'm sure what ever loop hole you used has probably been closed but it could give us some insight into a possible weakness. If it was practical it could mean she's not as omipresent as we think and some things escape her view. If it was magical it might mean the same thing but in a slightly different way. No matter how you got out it means her control isn't total and cracks do exist. But for now we need to find Carp. So for now lets put Isolde aside for a moment and focus on that. Harlan, they said Carp was with a magician before he disappeared. Do you know of one and where might we look for him?"

As the party debates the pros and cons of the items made available to them by the mysterious Harlan, he offers some advice on what their next steps might be:

"Once you have had a chance to understand how to use those items, I believe our next step will be to strike at Isolde's lieutenants. Without them, she is less powerful and has less ability to track us down. One of her most devoted servants is Malachai the Mindful, an evil wizard whom this very spellbook used to belong. Isolde rended his brain from his mortal coil and imprisoned it within a protective glass jar. This mage sees everything and will alert Isolde not only to our presence, but also our plans. I am shielded from his psychic probing and can disguise myself to appear as one of the commonfolk of Phandalin. His tent is the one where the townsfolk have their thoughts read under the guise of a common sideshow attraction, so that Isolde may know who is guilty and who is not. Maybe I can distract him and then you all can use these items in combination with your own powers to take Malachai out of the equation..."

Vanzaren nods as he moves a further ways into the tent, "A fair idea, though there is still the question of the missing boy and acolyte. I don't really intend to let them be trapped here either." With that declared he starts for lack of a better word a sword performance, trying to understand the capabilities and abilities of this interesting blade. "Also... what kind of spells does he keep in his spell book? Out of curiosity of course. I'd imagine only the darkest of of spells." 

Rigel also starts cycling through the buttons on the rod. "Okay stand back," he says as he starts to touch buttons. His eyes light up and he lets out a soft ,"ooooooh " when he sees the rod transform into another axe.  Once he's activated all the rod functions he finds an out of the way corner and sits cross legged with the rod across his lap. His instincts telling him to meditate for a bit in order to better understand the workings of all his magical gear. When finished he stands and sayS, "Well shall we then?" indicating the door flap with a tilting nod of his head.

Marcon furrows his brow, seeming a touch concerned about the plan. For the briefest of moments, something Vanzaren says sparks something, leaving the human wide-eyed at the precipice of a thought. But then, after struggling for a few moments more to put thought to word, the man gives up with a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. "Right... uh... So, we're s'pose to slip backstage then, or... ehh... ya know what, I'll just follow ya'll lead."

Ronk slips the ring on, studying it a bit on his finger, curling his fingers into a fist, straightening them as though his was about to deliver a chop, and generally making sure it's comfortable, if a bit gaudy compared to his clothes. "How do you distract a brain in a jar?" The bug bear throws a few test punches with the ring on, then finally takes Rigel's lead and settles onto the floor to meditate on the item a bit.

Harlan rifles through the arcane pages of Malachai the Mindful's spellbook. "Let's see here, well there's arcane eye, detect thoughts, dispel magic, nondetection, mind blank, zone of truth..." he rattles off. "Malachai was an interrogation expert...not so much a battle mage. He can see right into your very soul, and almost nothing escapes his notice. His extortion of powerful families and royal courts did many of them irreparable harm, which is what earned him his place here at the carnival. Which, as you might imagine, he wasn't thrilled about so before he could find a way to escape, Isolde extracted his brain and stuck it in a jar, albeit a rather nicely decorated one. You don't have to worry about Malachai killing you per se, rather it is the guardian Isolde has stationed with him you need worry about. Also in Malachai's tent is a dullahan - a powerful headless warrior and the foul disembodied head of a murderer. Together, they form a sideshow act called 'Beyond Death: The Man Who Survived the Guillotine!'"

"Well if we could use the non detection spell to get close enough we could then use dispel magic to remove whatever magic is keeping the brain alive. I don't suppose it's possible to get those put on scrolls for us?" Asks Rigel.

"So, we gotta deal with a brain in a jar tho... and I guy without a head... huh...." Marcon commented, scratching his head. "... Aight. Mine as well, I s'pose. I don't s'pose as well ya know if, uh... if the headless guy will... ya know... fall apart once the other guy is more or less dealt with? Or, ya know, got some other weakness besides maybe bein' blind on account of having no head?" Marcon asked curiously.

"I'm afraid that scribing the spells in this book to scrolls would be time prohibitive, expensive and I highly doubt that we would be able to do so before being discovered by Isolde, even if there was someone here in Phandalin with the ability and knowledge necessary to complete such a task," says Harlan in response to Rigel's request. "However, I can apply a non-detection spell to each of you individually, the effects of which last for a full eight hours. Malachai's minders - the floating severed head and the headless sentinel - are not linked to him in any way, so killing Malachai or otherwise disabling him would have no effect on the other two unfortunately, and despite his lack of a head, the dullahan can see better than any of us...the Dark Powers have seen fit to gift this monstrosity with truesight, so it can easily detect even those cloaked by invisibility. Of the three, the dullahan is the most dangerous by quite an exceptional margin."

"What if w..we tell the jar brai... well m..man he can escape with us?" Garet says looking at Harlan spell book

"That's a good idea Garet, but I doubt Bobby Brain can exist anywhere else. Especially if it's Isolde magic keeping him alive and in truth he may not want to leave. Here he has power and purpose. In the real world he's just spare parts." replies Rigel. Musing to himself as much as the others in the tent he continues, "So the non-detection spell gets us around. I just wish I knew the layout better. Harlan, I suspect it's different each time and based more on location than anything, but do you have a map? Or could you draw us one? Now that we can move we just need to decide where to."

Marcon cannot help but click his tongue, look off to the side, and mutter "Figures it ain't gonna be that easy" under his breath in response to the news. And while Garet's question had him looking up again, doubtful but yet visibly considering the option, Rigel's reply leads to the ex-farmhand grudgingly nodding in agreement. "Hate to say it, but he has a point there... I think. There's also the whole maybe being an evil wizard thing, and well... probably not the sort to bring back, or try'na trick into help'n, least this mess gets any messier."

Ronk stands after he finished meditating. "Unless we can offer him a nicer jar, we'll probably have to fight him and the others. And try to be sneaky about it."

"Agreed. How about the ring Ronk? Do you think summoning a Djinni  could help us? And what about you two," Rigel asks Vanzaren and Garet. "Setting aside the urgency to find Carp, if we wait here for a bit would either of you have a spell that might make us more successful in our attempt?"

"One sec," Van inspects the ruins on the side of the blade, trying to see if he can make them out. After a bit he pulls out his spellbook and starts looking through it. "Unfortunately no... but... no that wouldn't work." He snaps the book shut, looking over at Harlan, "Do you know anything about flamboyant magicians who use magic cloths to make little boys disappear?"

Ronk looks down at the ring, frowning. "I don't really know a log about djinnis, but... I think I can ask it to do a few things that might help." He looks at Harlan. "Does... Can someone get sent to another plane from here? I can wish the djinni to do that to someone."

Moonblade Runes

28: +1 attack and damage (+2 total)

87:

26:

96:

66:

92:

82:

Disregard the 18 i cant read XD only 6 need to be rolled

While Harlan draws a crude map pointing out which tent houses the evil brain, he explains: "So, unfortunately, plane shifting magic does not work here, otherwise I'd have been gone from this circus of insanity years ago. You can call the djinn forth, but his powers to banish creatures from this plane of existence fail every time. He is still a powerful ally though, but be careful what you ask of him," says Harlan.