Light flickers across your closed eyelids and you find yourself being stroked gently by the presence of something warm. You open your eyes to find yourself sitting in an armchair near a fireplace. You have never been here before and you have no recollection of how you got there. Across from you, you see three other people sitting in armchairs as well. You have never seen these people in your life. Are they responsible for you being here? Did they bring you here?

You look around the room. It appears to be a library of some sort. In all directions, you can see bookshelves filled with various tomes of different sizes standing proudly. However, by the layer of dust coating the books, it looks like they have not touched in for some time.

And yet, on a table, in front of the fireplace, are four books they are completed clean from any dust or dirt. Four books that have been placed carefully on the table. Each book sits in a straight line across the table, parallel to each other but perpendicular to the neared and furthest edges of the table. Just behind the books is a large sand clock filled with a large amount of green sand. Each moment that you spend looking at the clock you see a small trickle of sand passing into the bottom of the clock.

Each book has a title emblazoned across the front of it in gold lettering; Masque of the Worms, Crypts of Azarumme, Valley of the Gilded Tower and Watchers in the Dark.

The half-elf woman Kysken stands slowly, still groggy for some reason unknown to her.

This is most bizarre. How did I come to be here? Where is the glade in which I had been resting? Is that a gnome over there? 

There's something ominous about that hourglass. These book titles are not immediately unpleasant...especially the words 'valley' and 'worms'...but perhaps these books cannot be judged by their titles. 

Aranea's eyes fluttered open. She took in her strange surroundings with a sense of great alarm. Immediately her body tensed, in preparation for a fight. How did she get here? What was this? She stared suspiciously at the three other people seated across from her. If it weren't for the fact that they also appeared to be waking up from a deep slumber, she would have leapt up, rapier in hand, and demanded to know what was going on here. Alarmed, Aranea's hand strayed to her side. Then came a sense of relief. She still had her weapons. Good.

Only then did Aranea's eyes land upon the strange books lying on the table. There was also an hourglass with green sand, but she ignored that for the moment. Having trained so long at the monastery, she had developed a scholar's interest in lore and history so the books immediately intrigued her. She stood and approached the table cautiously, regarding the half-elven woman who had already woken.

"What is this? Where are we?" demanded Aranea. Even as she spoke, her eyes fell to the tomes. She was particularly drawn to the book with the title Watchers in the Dark. That seems appropriate, Aranea thought. Her fingertips lightly traced the cover of the book.

((Picture of Aranea))

Jerick Twintrick, a dark gray skinned deep gnome with white eyes and hair to match remains seated, glancing feverishly around at the surroundings. When none of the others appear to be immediate threats, he adjusts his hat.

"Aye, where indeed. But also who and why and all the other questions, too. Name's Jerick. I'm a meager wizard's apprentice. I don't have much in the ways of riches, but you can have my ten gold. Where then is the exit?"

He hops down from the chair and starts scanning the place for a way out.

"I'm Kysken. So you don't know how YOU came to be here, either? My head is clearing a bit, but I still can't figure out how I left my forest home for this place. Do you recognize any of these books? Or this place?" 

Jerick turns to get a look at who spoke to him, then turns back to searching for an exit. "No, I don't know this place nor the books, Kysken. Come, help me find the way out."

Jerick returns to his armchair and rests, covering his face with a hand as if to take a nap.

"Very well, Jerick. Are you looking for a door, or are you napping?"

Jerick sighs. "Looking for an exit, of course." He groans as he stands, then walks over to the table with the books.

"Hmm. Why do you think these books are set aside from the rest?"

He carelessly reaches to open the cover of Valley of the Gilded Tower.

"Perhaps the owner of this library set them aside for herself.

"Should we be so cavalier with them? Are they magic tomes?

"I am more comfortable with languages of trees and animals than with knowledge preserved between leather covers so I cannot say."

Aranea stands watching the exchange between the gnome and the half-elf. She hasn't moved from the table with the books and the hourglass.

"My name is Aranea," she says almost carelessly. She doesn't smile. She rarely smiles. "Someone brought us here for a reason. I doubt leaving this place will be as easy as walking through a door."

She continues to gaze down at the mysterious tomes. "Perhaps the answer as to why we are here lies somewhere in these books."

Jerick just glances up at Aranea and nods.

Seeing as no one is stopping him, Jerick flips open the Valley of the Gilded Tower.

When Aranea touches the cover of Watchers in the Dark a spark is emitted from the book which zaps her.
(2 force damage.)

Likewise when Jerick touches the Valley of the Gilded Tower another spark is emitted and zaps him.
(4 force damage.)

But he manages to open the book to find that the pages are empty.

"Vith!" Jerick yelps, shaking his hand. Then in a calm, professorial voice: "Don't touch these."

"Take a look at this. The pages are blank. What do you suppose that means?"

After taking a step back, Jerick casts mage hand to page through the book.

Jerick flips through the pages of Valley of the Gilded Tower by using the spectral hand that was created by the casting of the spell mage hand. He sees that all of the pages in the book are blank.

"Aranea! Jerick! Are you alright? What happened?

"What is the meaning of a book with blank pages???"

Jerick casts a wide grin. "I'm fine! Just a little zippity zap, nothing to bother ol' Jerick. I don't know about these books, however."

Jerick uses mage hand to pull a random book from the closest shelf and bring it to the table. His mage hand sets it down and pages through the book.

The spectral hand pulls a book off a shelf. The book is called Learning from Warlocks, and look like a normal book that has been left undisturbed. The cover of it is covered in dust and the pages have turned yellow with age. Flicking through the book shows many pages filled with handwritten text, pictures and diagrams.

"Well it seems these four blank books are special. That is..." he trails off and uses mage hand to open the other three books.

He then gingerly taps the dusty book with the pinky of his already zapped hand.

Aranea curses in Elvish as the book zaps her hand. She glares down at the cover. She nods at the half-elf to show that she is mostly unharmed. Still staring at the books, she mutters, "'Tis some sort of puzzle it seems, and the presence of the hourglass suggests we only have so much time to solve it." She doesn't want to speculate too much on what will happen when the sands in the hourglass run out.

While the gnome uses his mage hand to explore the other books from safety, Aranea circles the room, looking for any hints or clues as to their presence here or what kind of library they have found themselves so mysteriously trapped inside. She is also looking for a door, though she doubts she'll find one.

Investigation - 16

OOC: Whoa, this got going super-quick and I wasn't able to get to this yesterday. Will do better now!

Glugrug's eyes open to see strangers in a strange library. The armored hobgoblin looks from side to side, up at the ceiling, back over his shoulder, saying nothing for a moment. A scowl comes to his face, then quickly fades. Being in an unknown place, with unknown people may have at least one advantage--there appears to be no one here who will know of his past and thus be able to hold it against him. 

He listens and watches the others for a long time before standing up. "I am Glugrug Forge," he says in a gruff voice. "Let us work together to figure out what is going on here. Though it appears time may be of the essence--" he nods toward the hourglass "--if you give me a few minutes, I may be able to discern any enchantments in the room."

As others begin to explore books and the room, Glugrug pulls out a set of well-polished tools and begins using them on a small piece of glass, carving tiny runes into the surface and polishing it repeatedly. He hums quietly as he works. Finally, after about 10 minutes, he holds the polished glass up and squints, looking through it at the room, slowly scanning the area.

((Casting Detect Magic as a ritual; then moving slowly around, concentrating, looking for all magic in the room))