Adventure Notes – The Adventurers 60

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  • Recovering from the sunstroke she’d endured on the way into Drastor, the last few days (the player (Sephrenia) was absent those missions, so it was explained away that her character – a High Elf, used to woods and shade, suffered a sunstroke from the intense heat, and that she was resting in the room at the inn they’d gotten), Sephrenia gets up and sees a note from Korra and Lilli that they’ve gone into town to do some exploring
  • Feeling refreshed, Sephrenia leaves the room and travels lightly, and after a moment, finds Don, Ragnaroc, Buppido and Adrian (Korra and Lilli were off exploring elsewhere – see the last session for more)
  • Sephrenia approaches them and asks what’s going on, to which Ragnaroc replies with a smile, “We’re trying to kill someone.” Sephrenia pales, recalling the horrors they saw for those who committed crimes here.
  • Buppido wiggles his eye brows and whispers, “There’s a secret place for a secret sale for the secret magic items.” And then says, “We met someone who knows someone who is going to get us there. But we have to keep it a secret, because apparently it’s illegal – but he seemed legit.”
  • They explain to Sephrenia how some of these merchants have magical items; so she approaches one of them who boasts that he has everything she could ever need in this life (and winks at her suggestively, which as a High Elf, she ignores) and explains that she’s looking to get rid of her old, true and trusty longbow to see if he has any enchanted ones. He claims he does (DM Note – like the other magic item availability, I asked Sephrenia to roll a D100 and to roll high… she rolled a 9) so he perks up sadly, “Oh! That’s right! You just missed it! Sold the longbow just a moment ago to someone else! Is there anything else you’d want from me?”
  • Adrian sells his normal shield to the vendor for 10 gold
  • Sephrenia sells her longbow for 15 gold
  • She asks for a magical mace – and he digs around (she rolls a 41 out of 100) and offers to sell the Mace to Sephrenia for 150 gold and offers to buy her old mace for 5 gold
  • Buppido asks the vendor if he has any magic shields – and the vendor begins digging (Buppido rolled a 26) – and the vendor pops up and says, “Ah, the same person who bought the longbow also bought the last magical shield! My wife keeps horrible records!”
  • Adrian asks about the Shield of Valor (Tiger), and the vendor explains that there may be more information in the Great Library in the center of town
  • Ragnaroc and Sephrenia spot Korra and Lilli and the group reunites; sharing information, they realize that they all mutually want to go to the Great Library
  • Korra approaches the vendor they’d been speaking to and asks him for some Serpent Scale armor, and as he digs around (she rolled a 77) he explains he has some! However, because it’s so rare, and so powerful and highly regarded – it does cost quite a bit – and offers to sell her the armor for 5,000 gold – which is more than what Korra can currently afford
  • Korra asks if they have a bag of holding – and he explains he doesn’t have one – but if they manage to kill a sand shark and extract the gullet of a sand shark and bring it to him – he knows someone who could probably change it into a bag of holding
  • Sephrenia asks the vendor if he has any Prayer Beads, and he remarks that a Priest of Prenah just came by and sold some beads – but those aren’t the kind of beads she’s looking for (once again, she rolled low – 37 on a D100 for their availability)
  • Adrian asks the vendor if he has any magical rings – and the vendor reveals he has a Ring of Protection (+1) and offers to sell them 200 gold each – Buppido purchases one of the rings
  • At that moment, Buppido notices that his other ring is missing – (Buppido had picked up the Fire Elemental Ring back in Session 55 – however, Korra was able to Sleight of Hand and remove the ring while Bupiddo slept during one of his watches). Bupiddo brings it to everyone’s attention in the party that he’s been robbed.
  • Adrian goes back to the merchant and explains he’s interested in the other ring (Made them roll again because they’d left and come back to the vendor several times, but he rolled high enough that it was still there). The vendor, however, remarks it will cost 225 gold now, because he has to keep putting stuff away and digging it back up – but Korra offers to cover the difference, but Sephrenia gives Adrian the extra 25 gold
  • On the way to the Great Library – Bupiddo creates a Minor Illusion of the Fire Ring – and asks if anyone has seen it – and everyone declines – but Bupiddo suspects Korra, who seems to change the subject on the matter
The Great Library of Drastor
  • Bupiddo yells, “Wait! I want to go back to the vendor.”
  • He enters the room and the vendor is visibly annoyed.
  • Bupiddo asks if he has a scroll of locate object (Had him roll a D100 and said he’d need to roll really high because of how annoyed the vendor was with the constant – enter, leave, enter, leave, repeatedly – he rolled a 23) – the vendor looks at him and says, “Let me check,” and without moving or looking, and remaining focused on Bupiddo, firmly says, “No, I don’t.”
  • The party makes their way to the great library of Drastor – and inside the massive library, they see that the library inside – is clearly larger than what it appears outside. Rows of books seem to stretch in every direction, disappearing into shadows – Spectators (large, spherical creatures – which they’ve seen before back in Session 44) roam the library looking for anyone who might try to steal, faerie dragons are flying about here and there, turning pages and reading, while hundreds of people walk around, checking out and reading various tomes
Lead Generation – Making Your Own Magic Library - Business 2 Community
  • Lilli asks about a directory – and she’s pointed one – who Korra goes with. She tells Korra that she can’t remember the name of the man that her true father came looking for – but she recalls he’s a Tiefling, and that her foster parents had told her that the mean in question was known to be a little crazy and eccentric and says his name is something like “Melon” or “Delon” or something
  • She does know that this Tiefling is very rich – or was – and that her foster parents told her that a part of his “craziness”/”eccentric” behavior is that he crafts weapons out of metal that shoots magic
  • Adrian realizes that the fairy dragons are employees of the great library and approaches one to ask about The Shield of Valor, because he’d recently acquired the Shield of Valor
    • The fairy dragon flies straight up, five flights of stairs, lands on the railing, and in a cue, cooing voice, shouts, “Hurry up! Hurry up!”
    • Adrian sighs and runs up the flight of stairs, where the fairy dragon then leads him down one of the many rows and begins gesturing at the books – and several books simply float from the shelves and onto the table
    • The Fairy dragon asks about the name and Adrian explains it’s the Shield of Valor (Tiger) – and the fairy dragon turns to one of the six books and points – and the book floats – and pages begin to flip on their own – until finally stopping on what appears to be an old painting of the very shield Adrian has
  • Adrian tries to read the text, but is not able – and the Fairy Dragon realizes that Adrian can’t read Ilyxian, the native tongue of Ilyx (the Gold Coast/Broken Lands). The Fairy Dragon casts a spell on Adrian that suddenly converts the unusual symbols into words he can now clearly read.
    • Adrian reads how a hero – who had both a Shield of Valor (Tiger) and a Sword of Valor (Tiger) arrived to Drastor and proved himself against a demonic invasion – however, at the end of the battle, a fleeing demon gave one last shot and managed to critically wound the hero, who collapsed onto the sand, which was infested with sand sharks, drawn by the scent of blood of both mortal and demon alike, and before he could be rescued, a sand shark pulled him under and his body (sword and armor) have yet to be recovered.
  • Many years later, his shield had been recovered by adventurers and sold to a vendor in Drastor, who could not figure out how to “awaken” the shield’s potential
  • Meanwhile, as Lilli flips through the magical directory – she believes she’s found the name – Elon Dusk. Examining the information – she confirms that Elon is indeed a rich Tiefling, here in Drastor, whose made his home on the edges of the major city. She notes that the book notates, specifically that he is “An Artificer.” Examining the link in the book to learn more about artificers – it would seem this Elon Dusk is the sole person, in the known world – with this title. The book goes on to “define” an artificer as someone who is a master at invention, using magic and objects together in new ways, seeing magic as a complex system waiting to be decoded and harnessed into inventions.
  • Buppido decides he wants to look up information about “the star gem.” A female fairy dragon tells him to follow and goes up to the 6th floor – and Bupiddo (with his smaller legs) huffs and puffs after the fairy dragon – who then pulls out several books – whispers a word – and one of them opens and shows a large crater with a purple meteorite that has sprouted what appears to be a living tree from it…
  • Buppido refusing to let the fairy dragon know he can’t read Ilyxiam pretends to read it – but when the fairy dragon departs – he begins asking for “translatations” here and there, frustrating the fairy dragon
    • The book talks about this large meteroite that struck the desert with so much force, that it created a literal tsumai made of sand that buried several towns, and people simply vanished believed to have been buried alive or devoured by the things that swim in the sand, such as the sand sharks. The book goes on to say that most of the meteorite has long since been covered, due to the frequent and violent sand storms that ravage the Ilyxian lands – but there’s rumors of tunnels that will lead to the inside of this massive meteorite. The location of it, however – has shifted over the hundreds of years, due to the way the very sand itself seems to constantly shift and move things, like things sitting on water.
  • Ragnaroc asks about locating items that have been stolen – knowing that Buppido had his ring stolen at some point. The fairy dragon explains that theft is left up to the guards and requires a witness to the crime.
  • Korra tells Lilli she wants to find something about traveling to different planes, and Lilli explains that the book talked about how Elon Dusk had created some sort of plane travel device – though the book notes, according to Elon himself – it’s not quite ready for use and known to be “unstable.”
  • Sephrenia asks about healing books, but the fairy dragon says that they don’t have magical books about greater type healing – but they do have several books about herbs that can be used to create healing potions. Sephrenia notes to Korra, that the book has ways of making poisons as well.
  • The book – on the twelth floor – talks about several types of plants that can be used for mimicing magical spells, but would require an alchemy set. The fairy dragon realizes that this group of people don’t know how to speak Ilyxian – and translates it for her. In the book, there’s mention of Doomsilk, who was a master alchemist. (The party first heard about Doomsilk the Alchemist all the way back in Session 21. Korra, while scouting ahead in the Shadow Stone, saw Doomsilk exiting a cave in Session 22. The party learns, from a crazy goblins named Nor’Orn Greenskin, that Doomsilk was the one who poisoned the waters, in Session 23. The party finds one of Doomsilk’s labs in Session 24, and stumbles across some of his horrifying experimets. The party meets Doomsilk in Session 29. In Session 31, Nor’Orn explains they must take the fight to Doomsilk now that he has the cure for the poison. The party confronts Doomsilk in Session 32. The fight carries on through Session 33, where the party fights numerous spider-creations from Doomsilk. Doomsilk is defeated in Session 34, but his body falls into a river and is washed away! The party learns more about Doomsilk in Session 35 from Nor’Orn who’d been his slave for years. In Session 37, the party learns that Doomsilk’s body was recovered and rasied as undead. He was easily defeated in his undead form. – Quick fun revisit of that epic series!) A note in the book mentions that Nor’Orn now possesses Doomsilk’s tome and has been sharing information from it.
  • Adrian describes the magical skull that Kraun has – and asks about how to destroy the Whispering Skull of Madness and Secrets. (The party learned of it in Session 45, party has the skull and debates what to do with it in Session 46, and finally sell it to Kraun in Session 47, with the intention of getting it and destroying it later). The fairy dragon leads Adrian to the thirteenth floor, where it opens a book about the Magical Skull.
  • The book explains that this magical skull is rumored to be someone connected to one of the evil gods – which one remains undocumented – and it simply whispers endless secrets to the person cursed to hold it. The secrets include everything from immortality, to killing gods, to even various secrets about the people around them – and includes mundane secrets such as how plants grow. The whispering never stops – so the voice from the skull is ever present, preventing those who have it from ever sleeping – which results in madness. Wizards, seeking more power have touched the skull – and fallen victim to the curse, and end up destroying themselves, often becoming allips – one such allip has been encountered by this party in Session 44 named Darius Blackmane. Another group encountered Darius previously. The only way to stop the voice is placing the skull in a Bag of Holding. Unfortunately, bag of holding are extremely rare, as they’re made from the gullets of sand sharks. Note: This became canon in my world due to the players, in Session 53.
  • Bupiddo asks about spell scrolls – and the fairy dragon explains that it’s at the 60th floor – and requires permission from the Wizard Masters before the information is shared
  • The party leaves the library and meet up with the vendor that they were supposed to meet up with (this was arranged last session)
  • He leads them down an alleyway to give them entrance to the “secret shop” – and they realize that they might be in danger – because, no one is wearing their armor – except Buppido, because – the heat is overbearing, so wearing lighter clothing is standard as well as people wearing armor are thought to be looking for a fight
  • He places his hand on a brick – and Korra notices a mark next to the brick – it’s the symbol of The Forgotten Sands, a guild that Korra recognizes from when she spoke to the Kin of the Ravenclaw Thieves Guild (in Session 45 and Session 47) – and he’d mentioned the “Guild Leader” Ninesword might have information about destroying the cursed skull – but also that The Forgotten Sands were none to be a very brutal guild, full of assassins, not just thieves.
  • The vendor quickly urges everyone inside the secret passage – and as everyone enters, he presses a button and it closes behind them
  • Inside, their eyes adjust to the dark – just as they hear a musical voice whisper, “That’s them.”
  • Adrian, Korra and Don – all see a Dark Elf standing behind some people. He whispers something – and his ring glows – and an Earth Elemental emerges. The Drow is hiding behind five others – who appear to be human.
  • Don is hit by a number of arrows fired by the master thieves
  • Sephrenia quickly touches Don and gives him Resistance (d4 on Savings Throw)
  • Adrian casts Protection from Evil and Good on himself
  • The Earth Elemental approaches Ragnaroc – and slams Ragnaroc for hard hitting (17 damage!)
  • Ragnaroc unleashes Hellish Rebuke in response to being hit, striking it back for 26 damage
  • Korra casts Mirror Image while wearing her Displacer Cloak creating six versions of Korra that all mimic her moves
  • A master thief fires at Ragnaroc and strikes him for 18 damage (Natural 20!)
  • The archer fires at Sephrenia (Natural 20!) and a second shot also hits, landing 26 damage on Sephrenia!
  • Ragnaroc tries to cast Eldritch Blast, but it’s at disadvantage since the Elemental is in his face – and his spell misses
  • Don Kannin casts Spike Growth on the assassins and master thieves further back, firing on them
  • Bupiddo throws a Fireball in the back – however the two archers are able to avoid the primary damage, but the two master thieves take the full blunt of the fire
  • Lilli moves up and casts Faerie Fire – and the Earth Elemental slams her for 15 damage, instantly making her bloody
    • One of the archers avoids it, as well as a master thief
    • However, the other archer and master thief glow yellow
  • The master thief fires at Korra – and hits one of the images
  • Sephrenia casts Banishment and the Earth Elemental fails to save, and is banished
  • Don casts Hail of Thorns and attacks, but the Master Thief and the Archers are available to avoid the total damage
  • Buppido casts Fly on Adrian – who gives pursuit after the Drow who is fleeing the battle
  • Sephrenia does Mass Healing to help with those who are bloodied
  • The others finally take down the master thieves and archers and Adrian tackles the Drow and successfully wrestles him to the ground
  • Adrian notices while wrestling with the drow – that he has a large ring, similar to the fire ring Buppido had found – but this one had a large earth gem…

And that’s where we stopped for the night.