Or We Could Just Burn It to the Ground... [Session 33]

<< Previous Session | Next Session >>

Current Situation

• Wrapping up with Durnan, Mirt, and finishing business for the day, the Trollmates plan to head to Nightstone the following morning to attempt entry into the Library of Drezlin Nandar, and seeing what they may find.
  
  

Session Summary

• At this time, Velrosa Nandar rejoins the group at the table. Barrett asks if she's still interested in the group escorting her to Nightstone, and she said she's ready to go any time, but while it would be good to check in with the folk at Nightstone, would prefer to wait at the Lodge with Mirt until the chaos in the library is resolved. Whatever is happening there, along with the nightmares, has very clearly scared her. The next morning, the 9th, Mirt and Velrosa will come to Trollskull Tavern and Erky will help see everyone off to Mirt's Hunting Lodge by using the teleportation circle in the basement of Trollskull.
• Heading back to their tavern, the Trollmates see that winter is truly settled within the city and the snow makes for a somewhat slower pace to be set. Not many are out today in the cold. Barrett asks if the group wouldn't mind taking a detour to pass the warehouse that makes up the current setup for the Church of Cyric, and everyone agrees there's no reason not to make a walking pass to see what's there. Rascal has been there before and leads the way.
• The two story building takes up about a block of the city, and looks nothing like a church. Windows on the upper floors and trees make the roof rather accessible. There are two wagons, one full, one empty, sitting in the yard. Judging from ruts in the ground, wagons are brought into, and then out of, the Church regularly. There are a couple of entrances. Double doors for the wagons, and at least two other doors are visible (one on the south, and one on the west). Single doors. The only people there have come out of the front doors, chat at the wagons, and Dhann is able to observe that the two acolytes are discussing how to get the full wagon indoors, what with no horses present. As always, they are whispering, even though no one else is close. A well is also noticed on the southern end of the grounds.
  
• Z decides it's the perfect time for some tree sneak & peek. Elyana makes Rascal invisible to assist in the reconnaissance. Z hops nimbly into a tree and is wholly unnoticed by the muttering acolytes below. Z climbs high and fast, locating the best vantage point from his tree, without needing to climb onto any nearby buildings, and ends up on the northwestern side of the warehouse. There's a window he's able to peek directly into.
  
• The interior of the warehouse has no artificial lighting, is dusty, and appears to have a mostly dirt floor. Lots of refuse litters the space throughout. Bedrolls are lain about, with a few currently occupied. Otherwise, it doesn't look anything like a properly operating religious organization.
• At the very northern point of the church, Z spies a very dark, large staircase leading downwards. It's most likely this that leads to the Underdark. Several acolytes are moving up and down, carrying various containers to and from and are also loading a wagon.
• Z also notices an attic level but this looks to be mostly food storage accessible by catwalks.
• Rejoining the group, Z lets them know what he's seen. Elyana says that maybe quiet infiltration is the best way to go, and Barrett says maybe a pair of them go in obviously, but then another pair use the distraction to reach the catwalks to observe. Z says he isn't sure if charms will work on any of the acolytes, due to their connection to the Cyrinishad and comments, "Or we could just burn it to the ground."
  
• Discussing access points to the Underdark: the The Yawning Portal is one place they can gain entrance, besides this warehouse. Dhann wonders if any of Nihiloor’s Journal & Notes might contain any other entrances to the gloomy realm.
• Entering Trollskull, Erky greets everyone cheerfully and already has a spectacular (but otherwise normal) dinner awaiting the gang. Barrett sends notes to Vajra Safhar and Laeral Silverhand in regards to the Insignia of Claws. He then suggests everyone take a look at the rune Z copied from Elminster Aumar's sword or the Per Historia Arcandor Materia for various subject details, like Drezlin or Cyric's amulet. While Elyana studies the rune, Dhann flips through the Historia, with a blessing from Barrett, and locates a bit of detail in regards to the amulet, after a good twenty minutes. It's a brief description with a small sketch that could possibly be the amulet. Name: ??? Worn by Cyric Priests. Power: Unknown. Dhann remarks that it looks like this isn't an amulet worn specifically by Cyric so much as an amulet representing Cyric that his priests wear, also inferring that there are multiples.
• In the meantime, Ely is able to roughly translate the third rune to mean "weapon." The meaning of it, next to the other runes, doesn't make sense and escapes her for the moment. She doesn't gain any real insight to the full message from Mystra, or the Fates, depicted in the three runes put together into a full sentence.
• Z spends some of this downtime to craft and weave, making some more progress on his Bardificier creations.
  
• During the studying of the Historia in the common room, a knock sounds at the door. Dhann immediately closes and slips the tome underneath the table, out of sight, while Barrett answers the door, to find Renaer Neverember, hastily asking if he can come inside to talk. As far as Barrett can tell, the young man seems hurried. His carriage waits outside, and Barrett catches sight of a female figure peeking out quickly from the carriage. It's Esvele Rosznar.
• Barrett invites Renaer inside, and Renaer waves his carriage to pull away for the moment. He's still wearing his mussed clothes from earlier and still looks quite roughed up, but at least he's very much alive. He states he needs to talk with the group, and has been meaning to discuss the impending meeting with them. He doesn't know what the Trollmates have heard, but it's not happening on good terms. The gang is being invited as "a potential source of strength, but also as a potential enemy." Renaer is in the dark as to what Blackstaff's or Silverhand's true motives are. It appears that all the powerful, negative forces of Waterdeep are being invited to the meeting. Renaer warns them, "Be on your guard...you do have friends in the castle. I'm not sure that Silverhand is among them." Both Clerics immediately squint at this, and Dhann asks, "What makes you say that?"
• "Blackstaff and I go back a ways. She sought me out to try and get a message to you. I'd have told you sooner, but as soon as your airship landed, she tasked me with letting you all know. I don't think you need to do anything special, prepare any weapons, just to be on your guard. She seems to be on your side - at least her. But I can't tell you what Silverhand thinks." He goes on to speak highly of Silverhand, that she's genuinely been a good leader for Waterdeep, but it's just strange that Blackstaff, as Silverhand's right hand, essentially, has been kept in the dark as to her superior's motives. It was important to Blackstaff that Renaer pass on this message.
  
• Barrett asks if Renaer or Blackstaff get the idea this is one attempt to make a clean sweep of the more nefarious groups of Waterdeep, and Renaer says that while that could be possible, it would cause an immediate riot and Silverhand is wiser than to attempt something like that. She's usually steadyhanded and doesn't make rash decisions. The only thing he can think is that the Church of Cyric concerns her and this is her way of seeing who's side everyone is on.
• Dhann then asks Renaer if the young lord's invitation stated he would be escorted to the castle under armed guard. When Renaer's answer is no, Dhann asks if Renaer's summons mentioned being questioned about the shadow dragon attack at the Benefit. The answer, again, is no. "The more I hear about this meeting, the more I don't like it," Dhann remarks, and Barrett agrees, while Renaer replies, "Yes, that was the concern. At any rate, I don't have much time and need to get going. Just - I wish I had better advice, or more information, even."
• The horses of his carriage are heard outside, and Renaer takes his leave, after offering to keep his ears open for more information. Barrett warns Renear that this cult of Cyric is infiltrating multiple levels of society and warns Renaer that perhaps this is something Blackstaff should be wary of. Renaer thanks the group again for saving him a second time, and he and Esvele, who looks exhausted and is waiting patiently in the carriage, head off into the night.
• Reconvening at their usual table in front of the fire, Ely comments that while they've all considered not going to the meeting, it sounds like if they choose not to, it's going to be very bad, and look like something is being hidden. Dhann comments, too, that if this was simply to get information on the Shadow dragon attack, that Durnan, Mirt, and Elminster were all present, and one would think that anybody who was anybody would be invited to share details on the disaster.
• Before dinner, Dhann does one more quick skim of the Historia for mentions of Cyric, but there aren't any specific sections devoted to him. There are bits on all the deities, but nothing really dedicated to profiling any of them. He isn't able to find anything, really, but there may still be information hidden within the pages. Ely also lets the group know that the three missing pages from the Historia, when she compared the parts left in the book, most likely detail more about the Unknown as well as more information about the Cyrinishad. Through his last look in the book, Dhann is able to confirm that if there's any more information to be known about the Nightstone that they don't already, it's most likely on those missing pages.
  
• Later that night, Ely asks Barrett for the dagger taken off of Esvele and he, while at first hesitating, relents and hands it over. Business for the day concluded, everyone retires for the night.
  
• The next morning, Erky makes breakfast and packs rations for the journey, and Barrett steps over to the Steam and Steel to pick up an order. Lady Nandar, who will stay at the Lodge with Mirt while the group explores the issues in Nightstone, hands over a packet of letters for some of the members of the town and asks if the group will disperse them. Dhann takes this responsibility, and also heads upstairs with Mirt to discuss some business before everyone sets out for Nightstone. Mirt also describes two of the traps he helped set within the library: one of them is to rotate rose shaped reliefs to lock steps in place, and that all he knows about the final puzzle to the second floor is that "the answer is on the first floor." He also comments that the Librarian is not very helpful. She was effectively a summoned spirit ("But more magical, than spiritual, I guess - it took Drezlin four days to do it and wasn't too pleased with the result but didn't want to do it again!") to serve the library and apparently isn't too happy to be locked into this servitude.
  
• Boom, snap, crackle, everyone is teleported to the Lodge and Erky immediately claps on the torches in the basement. It's dustier than the group remembers, but heading up to the first floor quickly reminds them just how posh a place this Lodge really is. Mirt lends horses to the group from his stable so that they save a bit of time on the way to Nightstone proper. Z asks Mirt about those "Earkeepers," and Mirt hands over another letter of passage, just in case there's a run-in with the tattooed woods dwellers.
  
• The Trollmates decide to head out immediately, with horses, to make the best of the remaining day. The weather is a little warmer, but still snowy, and coupled with the horses, it's quite a pleasant ride. One trader and wagon is passed, and other than that, nothing of note is seen. Towards sunset, closer to Nightstone, a fog begins to roll in and seems to disturb the horses just a bit. The closer to the town, though, the fog begins to get pretty dense and doesn't seem to be what anyone could consider a normal fog. While it feels like it could be natural, like there's nothing obviously magical about it, there's a rancid smell in a slight, odd way. The fog is thick, and begins to settle low to the ground. It's also noticed that there are dark grey mushrooms that seem to be growing in patches, here and there. Having been to Nightstone before, this wasn't in the area when the group was here last.
• About near the treeline, Z and Dhann catch the stench of decay, as if something died and wasn't properly consumed by scavengers. The smell seems to continue for another two or three hundred feet until the group breaks through the woods and begins the final bit of distance to the bridge into Nightstone. Rascal, however, picks up that the smell is moving, and headed westward, even as the group heads eastwards towards the town. As Ely relays this to the group, Dhann makes sure his mace is easily accessible on his belt - just in case.
  
• Nightstone, aside from the nasty fog, seems normal and just as it was when the group was here last. As Barrett announces their approach to the guard, the man on the wall seems to recognize them and beckons the Trollmates in happily. He recounts that the fog has been maybe rolling in a Tenday and a half, steadily getting worse, and something's poisoned the well - so stick to ale or wine from the tavern. "We think maybe something big's died upstream. We sent some folks up, they've been gone a few days." It's noticed his cautious optimism in relaying this fact.
• The group first goes to the Nightstone Inn to talk to some of the locals, as well as the proprietor, Morak Ur'gray. He thanks Ely for her moonshine she sent, singing its praises. Z heads off to hang with the bard performing for a group of tipsy patrons while Barrett, Ely, and Dhann find a table. Morak says the fog started up about two Tenday ago and has gotten a bit denser since then. Lady Nandar has been notified, but no one has heard from her about it just yet. Adding percussive support for the bard, Z pokes about to see if anyone recognizes the name Rimpkin, and he was in fact, in this tavern just a Tenday ago. He played briefly for the town, and a patron points out a poster on the wall, saying Rimpkin was looking for a gentleman named The Greasy Cat. "He even hung up a picture, over there," and points Z to a notice board and there's a small leaflet of a hand drawn sketch. It depicts an older, maybe elven man's face, but next to it is another drawing of an older gentleman, stockier, and most likely human, with the text, "Have you seen The Greasy Cat? He goes by several appearances. These two are among them. Contact Rimpkin in Waterdeep!"
  
• Z asks what Rimpkin looked like, and the patron describes a tall, dark-skinned fellow, like he'd been working on the docks in some tropical place. The man can't remember what instrument Rimpkin played. But Rimpkin was wearing red, yellow trimming, and it looked very expensive. Very well dressed for a bard!
  
• The patron also comments, quietly, that the fog seems to be coming from the library of the Nandars, or from their island, where their keep is, but it's not the place of any of the townspeople to trespass. Barrett asks if they can take the poster with the sketches, and the patron says, by all means. No one in Nightstone seems to have met the wrong end of Rimpkin's entertainment.
  
• Overall, despite the weird fog, shrooms, and smells, optimism in the town is high and everyone hopes Lady Nandar is doing alright. While Ely and Barrett chat with Morak, Dhann glances around the tavern for acolytes of the Church of Cyric, but the town doesn't seem to be hosting any at the moment. The townspeople overall seem to have a bit of nervousness in regards to the fog, wondering if it's somehow related to Drezlin's tragic death and Lady Nandar needing some time out of Nightstone. The nervousness is solely from not having either Nandar in town at the moment. The couple has the town's pure and true loyalty and with one deceased and one out of town, they are both extremely missed. It's clear the people aren't used to being left effectively leaderless. Morak also comments Drezlin is interred in the family tomb, and while it's quite a large crypt, the only other person buried there is an aunt of Drezlin's.
  
• At this time, Dhann remembers one of the letters from Lady Nandar is for Morak and the Cleric hands it over. Essentially, the letter is Velrosa saying the group is there to help, and Morak is delighted by this and offers free room and board, and any assistance the group may need.
• Z asks about the mushrooms and Morak expresses great disgust at them, "They're just wrong." He also comments on strange things in the woods, dead deer wandering around, that sort of thing. "Nasty business."
• It's decided to go take a look at the keep and the library before full dark. Dhann and Z decide to go to the keep to deliver the rest of the letters, and ask the staff a few more questions, while Ely and Barrett investigate some of the strange mushrooms. At the keep, the head of house answers and she recognizes both the Cleric and the Bardificier. Dhann hands her the letters (four of them for staff within the keep), and that's all the mail delivered. The woman seems a bit more disappointed in her letter, most likely due to Lady Nandar not returning just yet, and affirms that they think the cause of the trouble is coming from the library. Noises in the night, strange lights, but it's odd because no one else should be in there besides the Librarian. No one has tried to go in as they're uncomfortable with trespassing into Drezlin's private rooms.
• The first floor is general research, with the second floor being Drezlin's private studies. Sometimes he would go up there with a guest or two, but never leaving it open for anyone to wander into. Dhann asks if the woman knows exactly what the Librarian is, and she confirms that it's a magically generated "spirit" and she's apparently quite grumpy. Z asks if anyone has gone to the library at all, or if there's anything specific to the sounds, like voices. The answer is no, but through the glass ceiling, when standing at the highest point in the keep, one can see odd lights within the library.
• Dhann asks for a sample of Drezlin's library, and receives a small, mundane to-do list, which he pockets. He hopes to use this to see if he can find any entries in the Historia written specifically by Drezlin. Z mentions Lady Nandar has given them permission to enter the library and the staffwoman says yes, absolutely, and will lead the group to the library.
• Meanwhile, Ely and Barrett take a closer look at the strange fungi. They're growing here and there on the sides of paths and alongside buildings, anywhere grassy and lush. Ely bottles a sample of one, and spores erupt from the broken mushroom but are thankfully contained within the closed bottle. Somehow, these mushrooms look like they grow rotten to begin with. Barrett smashes a mushroom with a large rock, spores puffing out from the sides of the stone, but otherwise, nothing much happens. He then checks to see if the mushrooms are odd around the Nightstone, but the ground is trodden down so that there aren't many mushrooms. There are a few, but not growing in any stranger way than the other gross mushrooms around the area. The mushrooms remind Barrett very much of death, overall, with a necrotic flavor to the way they look, and smell.
  
• The four Trollmates meet up with the staffwoman at the doors of the library. It's an elegant building, columns, a porch, lots of marble and glossy stone. It was a prized building, to be sure. Two great lion statues guard the steps up to the marble porch in front of the double doors. Right now, there are no sounds from outside. The house help provides a large key to the front door and unlocks it, and Dhann asks if they may keep the key while inside, and she obliges, handing it over. The group thanks her, and they head inside.
• Ely sends Rascal to scout around outside the building and looks through his eyes. There are leaded glass windows on both the east and west sides, and all he can really get from peeking in is rows and rows of books. The upper floor windows are stained glass and he can't see much at all. On the east side there's one more set of double doors, and they look to be where refuse is removed from the library, when there is any.
• Just inside the front doors is the main foyer, housing a substantial wooden desk with a few scattered books. Barrett steps inside, with Rascal shadowing. The floors are stunningly shiny, like no expenses were spared in the building of the library. Two staircases lead up on either side, blacked out halfway with magical darkness. Mirt mentioned this, and that every odd step is trapped if not disengaged. The desk has an empty chair behind it, where the librarian would normally sit. There's a door on the east and west wall, and on either side of the desk, on the north wall, are two sets of double doors.
• After a moment, a sharp voice says, "WELCOME. Keep your voice down, this is a library." Barrett greets and acknowledges the voice and it then goes on to say no one is permitted on the second floor, and if anyone needs help, to just ask. The voice is directly in front of Barrett, and a small green lantern, unlit, flares up with a green flame in front of the slightly rocking, empty chair, illuminating a green, misty librarian. An elderly woman, human or elvish, very ethereal and see-through, has a scowl and apologizes, "I forgot you couldn't see me." She reminds Barrett no one is allowed upstairs, but the double doors lead to the main research floor of the library, and patrons are allowed.
  
• Ely prestidigitates a flame onto a torch and is immediately blasted into the wall by a magical gush and snapped at by the librarian, who has introduced herself as Mrs Rengar, that the torches are magical and no real flame whatsoever is allowed near the books.
• Barrett inspects a very dead plant, and Dhann asks if there's a section on old religions and is pointed to the northwestern corner of the library. Barrett then asks if she knows the contents of the second floor, and Mrs Rengar says she's only been up if summoned, or to return a book, but she hasn't been up in a while. She also knows the upper content is the more dangerous sort but she stays primarily within the shelves of generic research.
• Entering the main floor of the library, it's an impressive collection, with hundred and hundreds of tomes along all the full shelves. Columns decorate and hold up the space, and there seems to be a glass ceiling separating the first to the second floor, with light from the sunset shining through. There are two more staircases with a darkness blocking the view up, in the middle and on the sides of the large space. On two of the center columns, there are rose flower engravings the group knows Mirt has mentioned as needing to be turned to deactivate the stairs from turning into smooth floors, deterring anyone from trying to gain access to the second floor that way. A suit of armor in the top left corner seems to be of Elven make while the one on the right is more Dwarven. They seem quite old, maybe 100 or more years old.
  
• An open book on a podium in the center of the room is on ancient elvish tea practices and ceremonies. The book itself turns out to be more than just elven tea and the associated rituals. It actually contains quite a bit about elven food and drink, falling just short of being a cookbook. One of the pages near the first third of the book presents a rather lengthy discussion on Guldathen nectar which came to Waterdeep in 1363 DR at the Elfstone Tavern. However, the history of the nectar is fairly extensive having, as legend holds, been served by the elves to the Seldarine (the pantheon of the elven gods) at a gathering when the astral and material planes nearly touched. The nectar, supposedly, was too complicated to be brewed by the gods themselves and the elves offered it as a gift. The original form or recipe is likely very different from the vintage that turned up at the Elfstone and then later in various shops or taverns for the next ten years or so. Records of the wine and the process to make it were lost in the calamity of the Spellplague.
• The library seems to have a unique organizational system, not alphabetic, and no authors seem to be written on spines. At first glance, there's no obvious indication that there's any system whatsoever to this library, but maybe Mrs Rengar knows more.
  
• Z spends some time looking for books pertaining to topics he finds interesting and is able to catch sight of:
• Cooking in the Wild, Vol I. (Starting fires in the wild, and learning the "Produce Flame" cantrip)
• Smell This! Practical Jokes for Trying Times (with an entire chapter on learning the "Poison Spray" cantrip)
  
  

-

Barrett, upon hearing Z read out a few of the titles, slowly grasps the potential to gain knowledge that this library affords, and stands mesmerized for a moment.  He scans a few of the titles on the shelves nearest him...what secrets do these tomes hold?  But his thoughts are interrupted by the imagined voice of Sensei Thilthaad scolding him for pausing his tactical assessment of the situation.  "Be mindful of your surroundings," she would say to the novices at every opportunity, "Situational awareness will keep you alive!" Chastened by thoughts from his former teacher, he resumes his investigation of the room. The books aren't going anywhere. Probably. He had checked the stairs to the east and west, noting the rose icons on the nearest columns which would, according to Mirt, disable one of the traps.  He had checked the suits of armor which appeared to be old, but inert.  He had checked the open book on the podium; a research tome on the tea practices of elves, which he made a mental note to come back to later.

As he begins to ritually cast Detect Magic, he looks again at the walls and ceiling.  He recalls that Rascal, during his recon around the building, had reported smaller rooms jutting out to the east, west and north of the building.  He guesses that there are still spaces on the first floor they haven't seen.  He looks for doors from the main library to these additional rooms and sees...

After the awe of the sheer size of the library and the number of volumes collected here wears off, Barrett begins to look around the room to get the lay of the land. The first thing he notices is the light coming from above. It appears as though the ceiling above them has a huge opening clear to the second story. Above that, a glass roof, similar to the roof of a green house, lets in an amazing amount of natural light. But, between the second floor and the amazing ceiling hangs a huge skeleton. It appears to be a winged creature of some sort although portions of it are obscured by the second floor balconies. At first glance, it must be either a dinosaur of some kind, or more likely, a dragon.

After a moment taking in the skeleton, Barrett realizes there are several doors leading out of this main area both on the east and west wall’s. Additionally, there seems to be a door to north and the doors through which they entered to the south. Additionally, though this library seems to have once been very opulent and pleasant, it clearly has been neglected since the death of Lord Nandar. A layer of dust covers everything, spider webs gather in the corners, some as cobwebs and some as homes to current residents. The opulence that Barrett (and everyone) experienced as they entered is quickly replaced by a mild sense of unease. The librarian certainly hasn’t been responsible for keeping the place clean and welcoming. Or, if she has, she’s been doing a very poor job.

Dhann's eyes move over the shelves nearest him, resisting the urge to reach and run a finger along the dusty spines. A shame, seeing books left like this. It's understandable how this came to be, but...a shame, still. Books shouldn't sit so long as to become blurred together like this. Well, maybe some books should be unused. Particularly books of the mind-controlling variety.

Barrett takes it all in, sending more than a few extra glances up at the skeleton.  He indicates the salient features that he's spotted to his friends, noting they have already seen most of them.  He makes a mental note to ask Mrs. Rengar about the last people to use this library and what they were looking for.  He also wants to ask her about the reported noises and flashes from upstairs.

He's about halfway through the ritual spell now, mumbling the well-known words as he moves to the podium with the open book.
At first glance, it looked like a reference book about elvish tea practices. But recalling they were told that the "solution" to the trap on the second floor might be found on the first floor, he decides to take a closer look at the book, particularly the page it is opened to.
He looks up again and thinks, "Maybe we'll have to serve Old Bony there a cup of Oolong or something to disarm it." Then, a more sobering thought hits him, "I hope this doesn't come down to a fight.  I would hate to have to damage this place, even if it is a bit dusty."

Finally, when the detect magic spell completes, books all over the room light up with magic from various schools. It is not obvious at first whether the books are magical or merely contain magic. Indeed some entire shelves light up with magical forces glowing in myriad colors of the spectrum. Several of the smaller collected objects light up included the currently unlit torches along the wall, a small umbrella stand near the southwestern entry door, and a small painting of a boy throwing some sort of toy resembling a numbered icosahedron. In fact, it seems there may be fewer things that are non-magical in this room. Even some of the small chairs glow faintly with magic.

Elyana blows some loose hair out from her face as she eyes the rows upon rows of books. Just a few months ago, given access to what feels like a world of knowledge would have meant nothing to her, now, it's overwhelming to say the least.  But hearing Barrett’s comments about the glass ceiling above them, she tears her eyes away from the dusty tomes and looks up. “I wonder if…” And she lowers her voice as she moves for a better view of the skeleton on the other side. “...that glass is magically protected? Is there a barrier preventing penetration? Teleportation?”

Barrett is amazed by the colors and textures he seeing.  It reminds him one of his favorite shops in Cliffharbor, one where the owner had hung various prisms in the window to catch and scatter the sunlight.  He has truly never seen this much magic in one place at one time.

"Crew," he says, still taking it all in, "This whole place is just oozing with magic from every school.  Books, objects, that umbrella stand, that painting, that bench.  It's...well, it's almost overwhelming." For the second time in the last quarter hour, he has to wrench his attention back to the situation at hand. "Ely, I'm going to take a look at those two suits of armor, then I'll see what I can see about the glass ceiling and the skeleton."

Dhann looks away from the row of books he was inspecting to take in the view above them. He moves a few steps towards the middle of the room, the skeleton’s shadow making for crisscrossing marks against the already patterned tile floor. “More dragons,” He muses. “We seem to be coming across them often, in some form or another.”

“I don’t know whether to be impressed by that fact or troubled.” Ely frowns in response.

“Both?”

“Ugh. I guess. Though based on past experiences,” She swallows nervously. “I’m swaying towards troubled.”

Dhann hums in agreement, considering that none of their experiences with anything draconic have been within the realm of positive. “Speaking of past experiences…” The Cleric tilts his head as he stares up at the skeleton, gauging it. “I can’t help but think back on the fact it was a dragon of shadow, that attacked, and then Drezlin, too, formed of shadow. We know - or evidence suggests - that Shadow has to be assigned a purpose to make it more than just blackness held by silver. I wonder if…” He continues to study the length of the specimen above them. “Do you think Drezlin sent it? The dragon, I mean. Or perhaps was it.”

“That’s a disturbing thought, But I wouldn’t be surprised if it was connected somehow.” Ely gives the skeleton one last scrutinizing glance and then turns away to focus on one of the other items Barrett calls out in the room to be magical.

A small sigh of dejection passes through Dhann’s lips as he looks down at the projection of the skeleton sprawling across the tiles. “I feel like it is, but it’s too difficult to tell,” He mutters. Being attacked by a Shadow dragon and looking at an actual skeleton are two very different things.

Barrett finishes his observations of the armor and ceiling, calling out, "Just an FYI for those of you with more magical inclinations than me: the western armor is giving off abjuration magic and the eastern one is transmutation. That glass ceiling is shimmering with abjuration. I don't know if that means it will block teleportation attempts or not...I never was good with the whole schools of magic thing."

Elyana moves towards the bench as she considers this new information. Abjuration magic she has become fairly familiar with but she isn't completely sure of all the capabilities Transmutation magic provides. Prestidigitation was transmutation, but it could do so much and based on her earlier mistake with the Librarian, she's still learning about how the spell actually works. “Well the glass is protected, has a barrier or can block magic in some way. And that could be the case for the armor over there." She points west, then looks at the eastern armor. “That one might just have a different color or a stronger mental. It’s harder to say without maybe identifying it.”

Finally, she reaches the bench. “Barrett, did you say what school of magic this one had on it?”

“The little chairs seem to be conjugation. I’m looking at these rugs next.” And after a few moments, “Well, the rugs seem to be one of the few things in this room that aren’t putting off a magic glow.”

Ely’s brow crinkles as she looks over the small bench, struggling to figure out what school of magic “Conjugation” was when it suddenly dawns on her. “Oh! You mean Conjuration?”

"Sure. Sorry, it's a bit overwhelming in here with everything lit up."

“I’m sure. I’m sure…” Her voice trails off as nods and mumbles to herself. “Right.” And then she sits down on the little bench and stretches her legs. “It’s just a chair… well as far as I can tell. A chair made from magic out of nothing I suspect, hence Conjuration. Good for sitting and reading I guess.”

-

Next time on...

In the midst of a wealth of knowledge, it's what the second floor holds that the Trollmates really need to gain access to. Can they figure out the puzzles left behind by Drezlin to keep people out? Just what is up there? And how dangerous is it?