The night was passed without any Night Terrors incidents but as the party awoke Agna/Paullus asked where in the world the party was.
As the spell casters memorized the days spells, Ciprian explained to Paullus that the group was now in Katheer. The rest of the explanation went relatively smooth as Paullus didn't seem overly concerned about the gap in his memory. Possibly his past with no memory in the Asylum had desensitized him to this happening.
Erevel was raring to go, "Lets get into the Library. Time is a wastin'."
After the morning meal and a little discussion with Elder Thyrr the party headed to the entrance. She also provided them with maps of four levels of the Mysterium.
The Mysterium was unchanged, six guards still stood nervously in front of the doorway. As the party approached one guard again moved forward.
"Halt!! The Mysterium is closed," he ordered.
Seeing that this guard was not the same person as they talked with yesterday, Ciprian explained again they party's mission. He stated that they had seen Elder Thyrr and handed them his authorization pass.
The guard moved back to one of his comrades and they examined the pass for several minutes.
"Fine, we will open the door to let you in. We will close and lock the gate after you enter and you will not be able to exit until we hear the tolling announcing the wards have been reset."
The guards spend the next two minutes removing the chains and iron bars. They then inserted a key and the door gave off an unsettling grinding sound as the key was turned and the door rotated open. The other guards were increasingly nervous and readied their weapons as the door opened.
Ahead the party saw the main hallway and side halls as seen on the map. The interior was dark but Erevel with her darkvision, moved directly into the chamber. Gavril followed along with Ursina. The guard practically pushed Ciprian, Paullus and Armania into the large room and then the door shut with a slam and the party could hear the iron bars and chains being reapplied.
Ursina lit a torch that was held by one of the scones, Ciprian followed suit. Now the whole party could see the area which included several hefty wooden doors which exuded a scent of passing time and were carved with dozens of faces depicting a wide range of moods.
As an esoteric museum and library, it was crammed with thousands of books, grimoires and arcane paraphernalia: tripods, blank parchment, workbenches, scroll tubes, retorts, chalk and slates, alembics, and so on. It was crowded, but tidy.
No magic was identified by any of the party and Ursina did not find any evil. At the far east end of the hallway, the party could see one of the angels statues in the corner. Erevel led north along the hall to the crossing of the major halls passing several doors on the right and left. At the crossing a ladder leaned against a side wall. Ciprian took the ladder, placed it in the middle of the crossing and climbed up trying to find the opening to the spherical chamber. After some study Ciprian saw set into the ceiling a concealed door that was worked in wood painted to look like the stone from which the Mysterium is constructed. Opening the door revealed the spherical chamber above large enough for the entire party.
Erevel and Gavril noted that at the far eastern end of the cross hall a large dark mirror, framed with angelic figures frolicking with dogs and other benign animals. The mirror glowed with magic as Ursina and Ciprian both advised the party. Gavril suggested that the party completely avoid the mirror, recalling the mirrors in Fort Hailcourse.
Ciprian noted two open doorways to the east on the north and south. Each one of these small chambers had a folding cot and a slim wooden case. The slim wooden case glowed with a magical aura. Gavril moved up to check for traps on the cases but found none. Opening one Gavril found a full healer’s kit, a potion of cure light wounds, and a scroll of lesser restoration. Ciprian found the same in the other room.
Erevel opened a door to the north and found a rather large chamber with tables, chairs and a raised lectern that stood some 3 feet above the flagged floor. Various items of Abjuration and Conjuration Magics litter the tables. There were two other doors in the room to the north and east which led to the hallways. Next up was the southern room of a similar bent but instead of tables the lectern faced rugs and cushions on the floor. Scattered about were items related to Divination and Enchantment magics. Doors led east and south, with two doors to the west. Ciprian and Ursina were checking each room for magic and evil but found nothing of the sort.
Gavril checked the first door west which led to a small chamber containing two worn desks and small chairs. The desks contained quills, ink, and a number of sheets of paper. Several more study areas were found along the center hallway, along with a closet with cleaning supplies.
A third large classroom again with raised lectern, rugs and cushions was found next filled with accoutrements of Evocation and Illusion magics. The final large lecture room again had tables facing a lectern, several books and papers filled the desks and topped the lectern. Erevel, Gavril and Ursina entered the chamber looking for magic or evil. Ursina found an faint aura of evil around the lectern as Gavril saw a book on the lectern open and the pages began flipping. He ran to the lectern and slammed the book closed just as all the books in this room suddenly flipped open and the pages begin furiously turning. As this happened, the letters and words contained in the book leapt from the pages and began swirling in the air like a thick cloud. All the party members in the room and Ciprian standing just outside the southern doorway were immediately bombarded by a glut of complex ideas, tangled formulas, and logical conundrums that caused them to take mental damage.
With no further ado the party members moved out of the chamber and shut the doors. With the doors shut they were no longer felt the effects of the haunt. Breathing deeply the group returned to the final doors in the central hallway. These again opened upon study rooms with desk and the other items.
Armania failed to avert her eyes and took Ripping Gaze damage from the monster. Her Magic Missiles hit successfully. Paullus successfully averted his gaze and hit with two arrows. Gavril hied out of the study room, shielding his eyes to approach one monster. He also took the Ripping Gaze damage but his blade sunk into the creature. Ciprian began a Bardic Performance and then moved forward to attack the monster next to Erevel. Ursina cast Prayer and then moved to the middle of the battle. Finally Erevel attacked averting her eyes. The battle continued with the heroes at times effectively averting their gaze and other times not. The attacks were hit and miss literally, as the lack of direct sight affected the party's attacks. One of the creatures fell as Gavril attacked multiple times with both hands. The other disappeared and then reappeared next to Ursina who felt the dangerous bite of the monster. Ciprian hurried down and dropped the last of the creatures and the party entered healing mode.
The last two study rooms were opened with no findings. This left a whole on the map so Gavril and Ciprian started to study the walls for secret doors. Gavril examined a carved pair of dancing angels and spotted a secret door. Finding no traps he pulled he angels apart to open the door. This action caused their expressions to subtly change from joy to wrath. Beyond was a small chamber containing a store of items, including six blank spellbooks, a brand-new alchemist’s lab packed in a crate, six vials of holy water, 20 spent wands, a large cauldron, a dozen bone scroll cases, and a huge supply of quills, inks and tablets.
An ivory scroll case carved with images of swallows in flight contained two scrolls of remove disease and three scrolls of restoration. Gavril also found a tiny ornate musical box that opened up to allow a tiny colorful hummingbird to sing a song. Ciprian noted the folksy nature of the tune but Gavril actually understood the words in Kellish, relating to lost love and a desert oasis.
At this point Ciprian suggested trying to turn the heads of the angels to descend to the next level. So they headed to the southeast avoiding the mirror. The first angel face diagonally from the corner of the building. Ciprian tried to turn the head with a mage hand but it took Erevel to swivel the head so that it faced the corner at its back. The second angel was on the western wall, where Ciprian took twine and lashed it around the head to turn it to face the wall. In the northwest corner Gavril turned the third head to face the corner.
Paullus had moved down the hallway and spied a seven-foot-wide circular valve that appeared to be made of iron, and depicted four angel faces smiling and looking upward to the ceiling. As Ursina turned the head of the fourth angels in the northeast to face the corner, Paullus saw the mouths of the four angels on the valve open, each revealing a hole. Erevel approached and stuck her arm into the mouth of one of the angels. The hole was around two feet deep and ended in a concave depression. As she tried the next mouth she found the same thing.
Paullus tried the mouth nearest him and felt a curiously coarse-feeling metal tongue at the bottom. Gavril checked the final mouth which was a two foot empty hole. Paullus swallowed hard and pulled the metal tongue. This caused the valve to slide to the side, revealing a shaft several feet deep. Metal steps then emerged with a grinding sound, out of the stone, spiraling down the shaft, which provided an easy descent.
As usual Erevel and Gavril led the way down the stairs and found that they descended for around seventy feet. The shaft from above descended to a crossroads of arched corridors. The stone walls of this level were covered in bas-relief carvings depicting thousands of faces in various expressions. A heavy iron key nearly a foot long with a leather thong tied through the end hung on a hook on the wall next to a keyhole. The air was cooler here and carried the scent of old books mingled with centuries of burned candles. A sooty film coats the stone throughout.
Ciprian stayed above while the rest of the party made their way down the stairs. At last Ciprian headed down the stairs which began to retract as he was about half way down. Hurrying to the floor he made it just as the valve closed over them above. On the floor were three bodies dressed in Nethysian robes with holy symbols of Nethys. The bodies were torn, bashed and blood was dry around them on the floor. The body's wounds did not seem to be made by weapons.
DM's Notes: The party earned 1066 XP for the evening.
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