Chapter 11: If Druids were Librarians

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Session Number: 211
Date: Sunday 29 June 2014
Venue: Tammi's
PCs & Players:

Breg Rog3/Clr10 (Fergus) (kills: none)
Calico Drd13 (Yeran) (kills: none)
Lionel Rgr6/Wiz1/ArcA6 (Ash) (kills: 1 spidery construct)
Rowaine Pal13 (Craig) (kills: none)
Troll Wiz13 (Densial) (kills: none)
Violet Drd13 (Tammi) (kills: none)

XP Awarded: TBA

TOR4
The creature is currently grappled by Spiritjaws and blinded by Blinding Spittle. Violet moves a few feet farther away and casts Sudden Stalagmite which erupts beneath the creature, skewering it (33 damage) and holding it in place.

Grappled. Blinded. Skewered. This thing is not in a great place right now.

With mammoth effort and four of its legs, the creature pushes itself off the stalagmite, collapsing to the floor. It lashes out with one of its pincered leathery arms. The blow strikes a nearby bookcase, scattering sheaves of on-fire paper and bound books in all directions. Breg Creates Water in the area aflame, quenching the fire with a short downpour. He then steps back towards the door. Troll flies towards the centre of the room and lands on the centre table, then casts Detects Magic, searching the east wall that they entered by. He, of course, detects the presence of magic - his allies are therein. Lionel fires the first of his volley of four arrows, felling it (AC39 hits for 15 + 3 frost damage). Green goo starts to pool beneath its bulbous body. The robed creature continues to walk around the periphery. Rowaine doublemoves towards the west end of the room, trying to cut the creature off. "Remember," she says, "this one is evil." Calico flies to the west end of the room, Detecting Magic on the creature. He senses magic in the area of effect.

TOR5
Violet moves towards Lionel to help him out of the webs. Breg moves to the displaced books and looks for traps, finding none. Troll's Detect Magic reveals that there are in excess of 12 distinct magical auras; the strongest of which is strong. He casts Fiery Burst to clear some of the webs around Lionel. The spell goes off and licks at the adjacent bookcase but does not ignite it. A 10 foot diameter globe of webs shrivel away. Lionel exchanges his bow for his sword and tries to wrestle free of the webs. He breaks free. The creature moves past some of the party, keeping a wary eye on them but doesn't interact. Rowaine gets in the creature's face with a doublemove. Calico flutters and lands, concentrating on the creature. There is one faint aura in the area.

TOR6
Violet flies closer, readying a spell should the creature attack an ally. Breg moves closer to Rowaine and casts Magic Circle against Evil. Troll casts another Fiery Burst and clears the remaining webs around the door. He ignores the magical auras about Breg and Lionel, concentrating on the strong emanations coming from a bookcase to the left of the doorway. Whatever is causing it is not in immediate view. He moves to the bookcase. The emanation seems to originate from a cluster of paper. He picks it up. Lionel moves closer to Breg, sheathes his sword and looses his bow. The creature turns around and walks towards Calico, stopping beside a bookcase and growling like it is annoyed. It then turns and faces the bookshelf and pulls books out, looking at the covers. "What are we doing with this thing?" Rowaine asks. "If it makes no hostile action," says Breg, "we ignore it." "But it's evil!" Lionel counters. "It has broken no laws that I'm aware of," Breg says. "If I walked into a bar and took offense at every evil person I saw there," Rowaine says, "I'd never get anything done. I'm clearing out, see what this thing does." She steps back. Calico turns into a human and takes a few steps back. "Let's not fight it unless it fights us," he says. He continues to concentrate on his spell, noting that the creature bears a faint necromantic aura. "It has necromantic magic," Calico says. "And that other thing was a construct."

TOR7
"This place is an abomination," Calico says. "There are dead trees everywhere." "In a forest, there are dead trees everywhere," Rowaine says. "Would you like it if I chopped up human corpses and then just popped them in shelves?"

Wow.

Is it evil?" Lionel asks. "I don't believe it matters to a druid what's evil and good," Breg says. "It's about what's natural and unnatural." "And it's natural to use a dead tree," Rowaine adds. Violet keeps her spell at the ready should the creature attack an ally. Breg moves and casts Detect Magic, focusing on the northwest corner. "There's magic over here, too," he says. Troll flies back to the centre of the room. Lionel waits. "Hello?" Violet says to the creature. It ignores her, swapping the books over and returning them to the shelves. It then turns towards Violet and moves towards her, then takes a right turn at the end of the bookcase. Rowaine moves beside the exit, stows her axe and readies her bow. "What are you doing?" Calico asks. "Covering everyone." "Do you speak common?" Calico says to the creature. It ignores him. Calico tries again. "The sundered sword." Nothing. "Chalychia." The creature turns and looks at Calico, then turns back. "Where is Chalychia?" Nothing.

TOR8
Violet flies over to the bookcase the creature showed interest in. She cannot see exactly which ones it pulled out. The text on the spines are in many different languages, most of which she does not understand. There is some disturbed dust on two bookshelves, one above the other, corresponding to two books. One, the higher of the two, is bound in red leather and has a golden inscription on its spine in a flourished character set that she does not recognise. The other is bound in a very deep black material, a kind of black that seems to suck light from its surroundings. "I think I can see the books that thing moved," Violet says. "Can you Detect Magic?" Calico asks. "No." "Troll might be able to help." Calico then returns his attention to the creature. "Where is True Death?" Nothing. "Encased in a crystal prison with no door, but only the first for there are five more." Still nothing. "Where is Chalychia's tomb?" Nothing. "If you're cold, feed the sea; use not the day lest you fall with me; forever safe, forever dangled; the dog by his own tail was strangled…" (Calico does not say the nymph's last two lines.) The creature does not respond. Breg's spell detects 10-15 auras, the strongest of which is overwhelming. Troll's spell Detects one strong aura in the area he is scanning. Lionel moves to the door and covers the creature with a nocked arrow. The creature moves between tables and stops at one of the central bookshelves, crouching down to the bottom shelf. Rowaine stays exactly where she is, adding to Lionel's menace. Calico follows the creature, vaulting over a table in his way. He stops just west of Troll. "Hey! Not in my line of sight, thanks!" But Calico cannot move any more. "If you tell us where you are going before you go there, we can stay out of your path," he says to the creature. There is nothing about the creature's behaviour to suggest it heard or understood the words. Calico pays particular attention to it's actions: the skin on its wrists and hands poking out of the end of its dark, ancient robes are sickly grey and dessicated.

library03.jpg

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