Megadungeon B (IC) III

[Malimar]

Myth Selu'Glaurach

Eventually, Doldor tracks down an information kiosk that sells him a map of the island for a couple coppers.

Myth Selu'Glaurach is let's say a few miles in diameter. It is almost entirely a big blend of nature and town, with the outskirts being more wild and naturey, with scattered support systems for the library, and the center being almost entirely taken up by "buildings" composing the great library.


Whether heading to the center of the mangal or heading to the grand library (in the center of the mangal), the party is stopped before being permitted to enter any of the library's buildings by white-robed elven librarians who frown at the outsiders and ask, "What's your business at the Grand Library?"

[RCgothic]

Eleanor

Eleanor accompanies the others with better idea of the goals in mind. She is amazed at the scale of the natural architecture!

[RaggedAngel]

Doldor

The radius of Commune with Nature for Doldor is 9 miles, so he'll find any convenient place to cast it (perhaps a room at an inn, if available) and see what he can discern.

When asked the party's business at the Great Library, assuming that he's with the group, Doldor will reply honestly. "We require a rare relic to enable us to quickly travel great distances; it's of great importance to a quest to restore balance to the world."

If someone would rather lie or give less of the truth, Doldor will acquiesce. He knows that talking to people isn't his forte.

[Rizban]

Shian

Shian will accompany Doldor. Since we're here looking for an item of particular importance to the druid, it seems most prudent to stick by the druid to assist in any way necessary.

Spoiler

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Shian will gladly make any necessary Diplomacy attempts on behalf of the party with a total +14 modifier.
1/day, he'll spend an inspiration point to get that up to +16 if the situation seems particularly crucial.

Spoiler: Soulmelds and Stats

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Chakra	Soulmeld	Essentia	Effect
Crown	Shedu Crown (bound)	0	Immune to Bull Rush effects +0 Saves vs [mind-affecting] effects.; telepathy 100 ft
Brow	Silvertongue Mask (+1)	4	+10 insight bonus to Bluff and Diplomacy
Throat	Dissolving Spittle	0	30-foot ranged touch attack for 1d6 acid damage
Arms	Lifebond Vestments (bound)	1	1/hour/living creature, heal up to 12 hp, take half as damage. 30 ft range
Hands	Theft Gloves	0	+2 insight bonus on Disable Device, Open Lock, and Sleight of Hand checks.
Item	Lesser Soulbound Shield	0	Increase shield's enhancement bonus by +0

Shian
HP 58/58, Speed 1 ft. / fly 50 (good)
AC 27 / T 23 / FF 21, Fort +7, Ref +12, Will +11
Power Points 5/5, Inspiration Points 3/3

Shicrystal
HP 29/29, Speed 15 ft. (riding on Shian's animated shield)
AC 16 / T 16 / FF 14, Fort +6, Ref +11, Will +8
Hardness 8, Power Points 2/2

[Artorias]

Namia

Namia will go with Doldor but once he enters the Great Library Namia starts exploring the area around for anything interesting.

[Malimar]

Myth Selu'Glaurach

Doldor gets as close to the center of the city as he can without yet entering the library itself (being within the library might be even better, but the elves might frown upon spellcasting among the stacks) -- a small open park-like area. He has an audience of birds and squirrels.

At first, the spell doesn't function quite properly, but he expertly coaxes and shepherds the magic into line.

He pokes the spell into querying the nature of things he doesn't already know about -- people, presence of powerful unnatural creatures, and possibly even the general state of the natural setting.

He doesn't survey all 90,000 inhabitants of the mangal in detail. He does get a sense of a cluster of powerful elves in one particular section of the Grand Library, which he gathers to be a more administrative area, from which the Triumvirate (High Druid Rìfi Rali the Just, High Librarian Lònethu Fifí the Blind, and High Ranger Nelare Voma the Fair -- the spell doesn't give their names, but a very brief asking around would, and for that matter anybody who's at all familiar with the elves (read: any ranks in Knowledge(local) or Knowledge(Nobility & Royalty)) would probably know these names anyway) oversees all elven activity. Also the Captain of Myth Selu'Glaurach (subordinate to the Triumvirate) is in there somewhere, and the mage's school (the most prestigious in the world), and various support staff for the Triumvirate and the Captain and the school. So if all else fails, he knows of an area that contains people who might know things.

Somehow the rats and moths of the mangal are persuaded not to eat the books, the pigeons and other birds are persuaded not to poop on them or use them for their nests. A variety of animals are allowed to freely wander in and out and throughout the library (which can lead to hazard for researchers, who may be at risk of encountering tigers in the stacks). Which leads to the notion that Shian might be able to get in without permission from the librarians, should he so desire -- except that somehow the librarians have a deal with the animals not to disrupt the books, so who knows what kind of thing they've got going to detect unauthorized animals or something. Probably best to be above-board, even with Shian.

But Doldor also surveys all manner of icky things! Bugs. Strange non-animal aberrations lurking in the oldest forgotten depths of the 500-year-old library. Mummies and crypt things defending the tombs of librarians with their troves of books. A variety of dragons, laying claim to portions of the library as their hordes (the ownership of the books in the Library is... wibbly, not consistent, no one person owns the whole collection, the elves are not socialist about their books). Aboleths and illithids dwelling in the semi-flooded lowest reaches of the mangal. Swarms of snails. An alarming variety of unnature, really. (Some druidly elves are custodial about nature, some are Darwinian, but the official position, at least on this mangal, seems to be that anything is fine as long as you don't harm the books (especially if you contribute positively to the Library in some way).) (I didn't know any of the complexities of this ecosystem until Doldor asked. Good question!)

Illithids are divided four ways in terms of deity-following: most aren't big on any religion other than themselves; of the remainder, most are big on Quasxthe or Mirk; and then there's Kwn, who has an unknown number of followers of unknown races that may or may not include Absterbossk's conspecifics. But it's a fair bet that any mind flayer dwelling in the Great City of Books is probably bigger on knowledge (which Mirk stands for) than on the various things Quasxthe stands for. So there's another lead.

Mirk is big on death and undeath, so the old tombs of old librarians might be another lead -- if their guardians can be persuaded that you're not out to steal knowledge, only to borrow it.

Dragons are another possibility. Again, if they can be persuaded that you're not out to steal their book hoards, they might be helpful, especially if they follow Numiel and recognize Scarecrow as blessed by the god of good dragons. (Unlikely that many dragons on this mangal follow the Burning Hate -- knowledge is too creative a hoard for its followers, who tend to prefer to hoard the standard "gold" or the slightly less standard "skulls of their enemies" and whatnot -- though some may follow Mirk, who is perfectly compatible with a hoard of knowledge.)

So Doldor's spell didn't exactly narrow the quest down any, but it has presented a variety of possible leads to follow. If there's any general hint he derives from the casting, it might be "in and down" -- the elves rule only the outer and upper reaches of the Library, darker things rule the innermost depths, and Mirk is dark if he's anything.


The Grand and/or Great Library

The white-robed librarians peer at Doldor, and at Shian, and at Namia and Eleanor and Scarecrow, and consider their explanation. They converse briefly amongst themselves. They take the party's names and squirrel them away for their records. They lay a few ground rules: "Don't be too loud, don't damage the books, don't stay too long, no open flames, you'll be watched as long as you're in the Library." And then they allow the party to proceed into the stacks.

The shelves within are not orderly stacked lines as one might expect. There is order to the system (once you figure it out, it probably makes more sense than, say, Dewey (but mostly I make fun of Dewey out of ignorance, I'm sure it's a perfectly serviceable system, or else it wouldn't be in such wide use)), but at first glance, it seems chaotic. As with everything on a mangal, the shelves are not carved or built, but grown out of the roots and branches of the trees that form the hull. The mostly hexagonal, honeycomb-like shelves are actually quite a good way to store scrolls (hexagons are a good way to approximate roundness using straightness, or to approximate straightness using roundness, both of which are at play here), not quite as good for codices, but much of the collection is scrolls.


Outside the Great Library

Namia explores! She finds a variety of parks and stores, a variety of elves and wildlife looking curiously at her... is she looking for anything in particular?

[Artorias]

Namia

Namia, knowing that after such a long trip and while reading so many series of packed letters everyone must be hungry, so she tries to find a place that sells food that she can take with her. If she succeeds in her quest for food with no trouble she takes it to the library and heads inside to find the rest, a bit nervous, entering a palace of knowledge such as this. It's quite intimidating for one that knows not how to read.

[RaggedAngel]

Doldor

Having gotten a thorough view of the city-island, Doldor has a newfound respect for the elves and their connection to nature. He prefers the rock-and-earth kind of nature to the floating-tree-island kind, but he can't help but marvel at the mixture of civilization and ecosystem.

His marveling aside, he's of the opinion that the party should try their luck with a dragon; preferably a metallic one. They're old, intelligent, and should have a good idea of where a temple of Mirk might be hiding. He's also more than willing to doff his dragonhide armor and shield if Scarecrow thinks it would help with the diplomatic proceedings.

[RCgothic]

Eleanor

Eleanor agrees with Doldor's reasoning that they should seek out a metallic dragon for aid.

[Malimar]

Grand Library

And so, provided with elf-food-type sustenance (not necessarily vegetarian, but mostly plants and nuts and what meat there is is not cooked well-done) by Namia, the party delves deep into the Grand Library!

The various sections are labeled (in Elvish). The area where they came in is mostly beginner's learning texts, See Lurit Run and the like. There is a logic to the sections, but the logic is not apparent to those who are not deeply immersed in the culture of the Library.

The party gets deeper and deeper within the library, taking stairs down when they encounter them, seeking areas controlled by dragons instead of elves, and soon find themselves in danger of becoming hopelessly lost.

They ask a passing elven librarian where they might find friendly dragons, and the librarian thinks for a moment before suggesting that their best bet might be Daariv, a copper dragoness who dwells in such-and-such a place. Deep within the library, but not quite aboleth-and-illithid deep.

So, with those instructions, the party seeks out Daariv the copper dragoness!

Eventually, they come to an area where they are accosted by three small dragony creatures -- kobolds! -- each wearing armor composed primarily of glittering copper scales the size of dessert plates. The kobolds point with spears at the party -- especially at Scarecrow -- and whisper amongst themselves.

Eventually, one kobold, in Draconic, is all,

Spoiler: Draconic

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"You're intruding on the Mistress's territory."

[RCgothic]

Eleanor

Figuring the copper kobolds for servants of the dragon they're looking for, Eleanor raises her hands palms forward, indicating no hostile intent whilst she waits for Doldor to converse. Exogenesis remains sheathed on her back.

[Malimar]

Grand Library

Scarecrow knows that copper dragons often enjoy jokes, tricks, and pranks, and he knows all the characteristics of copper dragons of up to Old age and all the flavor stuff that Monster Manual I has to say about them. (Obviously the bits about hills and using rock-shaping spells probably don't apply here.)

Scarecrow also knows that metallic dragons don't often have kobold minions, considering them distasteful, but kobolds are willing to follow pretty much any big dragons who are willing to have them -- which is a good way to have survived the Inundation, clever dragons bring their minions along however they wound up doing it. Perhaps Daariv, or her parents or even grandparents depending on her age, took up with the elves here when the mangal was smaller and brought some kobold minions along for the ride.

Scarecrow has not heard of Daariv specifically.

[Rizban]

Shian

Shian wracks his little birdy brain for any information he might have picked up about Daariv, the library, and the rest of the mangal.

He then sends a brief mental blip asking the party if he should try negotiating with the kobolds for an audience with their mistress.

Spoiler

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Just rolling everything he has trained. Apply whatever is pertinent.
Psicrystal - Knowledge – arcana - (1d20+6)[20] (DC 10)
Shian - Knowledge – arcana - (1d20+12)[29]+2=31

Psicrystal - Knowledge – dungeoneering - (1d20)[19] (DC 10)
Shian - Knowledge – dungeoneering - (1d20+6)[15]+2=17

Psicrystal - Knowledge – local - (1d20)[13] (DC 10)
Shian - Knowledge – local - (1d20+6)[23]+2=25

Psicrystal - Knowledge – psionics - (1d20)[17] (DC 10)
Shian - Knowledge – psionics - (1d20+6)[16]+2=18

Psicrystal - Knowledge – religion - (1d20+5)[8] (DC 10)
Shian - Knowledge – religion - (1d20+11)[18]

Psicrystal - Knowledge – the planes - (1d20+5)[8] (DC 10)
Shian - Knowledge – the planes - (1d20+11)[19]

Spoiler: Soulmelds and Stats

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Chakra	Soulmeld	Essentia	Effect
Crown	Shedu Crown (bound)	0	Immune to Bull Rush effects +0 Saves vs [mind-affecting] effects.; telepathy 100 ft
Brow	Silvertongue Mask (+1)	4	+10 insight bonus to Bluff and Diplomacy
Throat	Dissolving Spittle	0	30-foot ranged touch attack for 1d6 acid damage
Arms	Lifebond Vestments (bound)	1	1/hour/living creature, heal up to 12 hp, take half as damage. 30 ft range
Hands	Theft Gloves	0	+2 insight bonus on Disable Device, Open Lock, and Sleight of Hand checks.
Item	Lesser Soulbound Shield	0	Increase shield's enhancement bonus by +0

Shian
HP 58/58, Speed 1 ft. / fly 50 (good)
AC 27 / T 23 / FF 21, Fort +7, Ref +12, Will +11
Power Points 5/5, Inspiration Points 3/3

Shicrystal
HP 29/29, Speed 15 ft. (riding on Shian's animated shield)
AC 16 / T 16 / FF 14, Fort +6, Ref +11, Will +8
Hardness 8, Power Points 2/2

[Malimar]

Grand Library

Shian knows all the things about copper dragons (and kobolds) that Scarecrow knows, plus a little bit extra. It turns out he has heard of Daariv, but he only recollects that she's somewhat younger than the Library, probably in the Adult range, and he vaguely recalls her hoard is somewhat non-standard as draconic hoards go.

Shian doesn't know much more about the unnatural, natural, psionic, religious, and extraplanar dwellers in the library than Doldor discerned with his spell. He knows a handful of more specifics, especially about the elven librarians and schoolfolk, but nothing that's super-useful at this moment.

[Artorias]

Namia

Namia takes out some of the food that she bought and kneels down slowly in front of the Kobolds, offering some to them "Here. We will not hurt you, little guys. Could you just let us pass?" before she turns to the group and says "Actually, can someone translate that for me. I don't think they understood. I should probably stop talking to foreigners...."

[RCgothic]

Eleanor

"Namia, they might interpret that as really condescending..." Eleanor worries.

[RaggedAngel]

Doldor

Doldor doesn't speak Draconic, so he looks to Shian and Scarecrow with the hope that they can translate.

[Rizban]

Shian

Being in the fortunate position of both speaking Draconic and being telepathic, Shian gladly translates anything the party asks him to say; however, he'll put his own small spin on things to try to smooth over any rough parts that might be offensive to the kobolds.

Spoiler

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Psicrystal - Diplomacy - (1d20+10)[24] (DC10)
Shian - Diplomacy - (1d20+14)[28]+2=30

Spoiler: Soulmelds and Stats

Show

Chakra	Soulmeld	Essentia	Effect
Crown	Shedu Crown (bound)	0	Immune to Bull Rush effects +0 Saves vs [mind-affecting] effects.; telepathy 100 ft
Brow	Silvertongue Mask (+1)	4	+10 insight bonus to Bluff and Diplomacy
Throat	Dissolving Spittle	0	30-foot ranged touch attack for 1d6 acid damage
Arms	Lifebond Vestments (bound)	1	1/hour/living creature, heal up to 12 hp, take half as damage. 30 ft range
Hands	Theft Gloves	0	+2 insight bonus on Disable Device, Open Lock, and Sleight of Hand checks.
Item	Lesser Soulbound Shield	0	Increase shield's enhancement bonus by +0

Shian
HP 58/58, Speed 1 ft. / fly 50 (good)
AC 27 / T 23 / FF 21, Fort +7, Ref +12, Will +11
Power Points 5/5, Inspiration Points 3/3

Shicrystal
HP 29/29, Speed 15 ft. (riding on Shian's animated shield)
AC 16 / T 16 / FF 14, Fort +6, Ref +11, Will +8
Hardness 8, Power Points 2/2

[Malimar]

Grand Library

Shian translates, smoothing out any potential condescension, and one of the kobolds snatches the offered food out of Namia's hands. They yell and gibber,

Spoiler: Draconic

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"An offering! An offering for the Mistress!"

and they run off into the wide corridors of the library with it. One pauses long enough to gesture for the party to follow.


Daariv's Hoard

After a couple turns and through a wide door, the party comes to an open area dominated by a shiny, copper-colored dragon somewhat larger than a horse. Another kobold is straining to hold up a codex in front of the dragon, which she reads by the light of a continual flame on an ioun stone orbiting her head (it may be possible to read with darkvision, but it strains the eyes -- and Daariv's eyes have already had a lifetime of strain, judging from the dragon-sized spectacles she wears).

Daariv doesn't sleep on her hoard of codices and scrolls; she has all her hundreds of books neatly sorted and filed on hexagonal shelves. The visible titles, in a variety of languages, are all things like The Harpy and the Satyr and The Breaking of the Centaur and In the Hoard of the Lustful Black Dragon and The Illustrated Nymph and The Incubus's Punishment, and, like, I dunno, Gnomeo and Julielf.

The copper dragon peers over her spectacles at the party, visibly trying to judge whether they're more interesting than the book she's reading. (The kobold holding up the book sags, relieved to have a brief opportunity not to hold it up so high.)

With an extended puff of greenish breath, Daariv sighs, plucks the offered food from the claws of the kobold who took it from Namia, and pops it in her mouth. In Common, "Yes, hi. You haven't come to slay me, have you? That would be deeply annoying, not worth dragging my attention away from this at all -- just got to the juicy part and everything. No? Okay, good. So anyway I'mm'a need you to promise to either be more interesting than the juicy part, or to go away quickly. This snack has bought you -- uhm, you've already run out of the time it bought you. Tick tock, time for you to be interesting or go away!" She snaps her claws impatiently.

[Rizban]

Shian

Shian glances over the book titles and has an idea.

'Well, we were in need of your wisdom and knowledge, but if that's not terribly interesting, I do know a fairly sordid tale of a beguiling nymph trapped in an enchanted mirror, the half-mad human artificer obsessed with freeing her, and the dastardly noble who believed himself the rightful owner of the mirror...'

[RCgothic]

Eleanor

Eleanor smiles to herself at Shian's quick wit and waits for the dragon to respond.

[Malimar]

Daariv's Hoard

The dragon peers curiously at Shian, squinting through her glasses to see him. "That could indeed be interesting... if I didn't already have a couple stories very like it in my hoard. But you have bought a few seconds of my attention, little birdy. What else do you have to offer?"

[RaggedAngel]

Doldor

Doldor clears his throat, doing his best to seem confident. "A true tale of cataclysm, destruction, endurance, and then rebirth and renewal. We're working to restore the cosmic alignment of this plane, but we are in great need of a rare magical item; the Belt of Wide Earth. We good information that one should be here, in the Temple of Mirk. But this island is vast and complex, and few individuals could be expected to have knowledge of its many secrets. We have heard of you, Daariv, and we know that there is little knowledge you do not know. We ask only for help locating this temple."

[Malimar]

Daariv's Hoard

Daariv turns her head to inspect Doldor. "Interesting. Sort of. A little. A worthy task, maybe." She ponders for a moment, then she jerks a thumb-claw at Scarecrow, "But this guy is obviously a chosen of Numiel, which is cool and all, but if I point you towards the temple of Mirk, he and they will probably come into conflict. I'm not really Mirkian or Numielite, so I don't really have a chicken in that fight, but I am not big on conflict; the status quo suits me just fine. I can't have mighty adventurers coming in and disrupting it and opening up a power vacuum and plunging the whole delicate balance of the library into chaos." She shakes her head, disapproving of the whole notion.

[Sliver]

Scarecrow

"While Numiel and Mirk are not fond of each other, our quest isn't in Numiel's name, but is to restore the land, and in opposition to Quasxthe, a shared enemy of both. In addition, Mirk is on friendly terms with Inglip, who has blessed us before we set out on this journey. In addition to restoring the land, Quasxthe's domain and influence will shrink, which may lead to the metallic dragons of Gus to be able to roam more freely, as it is the Kingsguards that set on hunting the metallic dragons and breeding chromatic ones, and with Quasxthe's weakening, so should their influence.

Not to mention that the uncovered land is likely to contain many ruins of old, within which many artifacts and lost knowledge could be found." Scarecrow adds, hoping to sweeten the deal. "We came seeking to deal with the temple of Mirk diplomatically and have no intentions of turning our encounter hostile. And we will not disclose who lead us to them,
if the information will lead to any inconvenience to be brought upon you.

[Rizban]

Shian

'And if necessary, he can just wait outside... I mean, it's not like we're inflexible on things or unwilling to negotiate and compromise.'

[Artorias]

Namia

Namia frowns as she thinks over what is being said. "So....it's certainly in the temple of Mirk? I am sorry, I am a bit slow...Still, more land means more places to explore, right? More knowledge. More...stuff? That's something you would want, right? All these places sealed by the water will be open to explore once more."

[Malimar]

Daariv's Hoard

Daariv licks at her teeth with her tongue and ponders the party's words.

She first responds to Namia's point, "It is perhaps true, the more ancient ruins are explored, the more lovely ancient erotica may be found and brought to me... but the merfolk and tritons and so on can adventure in these ruins now just as well as surface-folk if the world is righted." (To answer Namia's other question, Scarecrow told the party that Absterbossk told him that the Heart of Mirk dwelling in Myth Selu'glaurach had such a belt as they seek.)

Then to Shian's suggestion, "Yes, even if you're all willing not to go barbaric on them, Turasjir'ikilwa might disapprove of this dragonborn's, you know, dragonborn-ness. Little T's more open-minded than most greens, but waltzing in all shiny and blessed by Numiel might still provoke him. Even I get dirty looks from him. Dragonborn might want to stay outside." Or just take a different, less shiny, form, but Daariv's not aware of the extent of his capabilities in that department.

And Scarecrow's promise not to be hostile to the followers of Mirk and suggestion that Numiel and Mirk have a common enemy in Quasxthe and the party and Mirk have a common friend in Inglip, Daariv contemplatively licks her teeth some more, eyeballs the party extensively, exhales puffs of green breath, and weighs all the possibilities.

Eventually, "Fiiiiiine. The stairs a couple rooms that way, up one level, then two rooms widdershins, find a section of scrolls about ghosts, written in goblinoid. I'll let slip to some friends that you have something to offer the Church of Mirk; they'll be in contact. It might be a bit of a wait. You do have something to offer them, yes? A mere righteous mission won't be good enough for them."

[RaggedAngel]

Doldor

Doldor takes careful mental notes on the route to the Temple. At Daariv's second remark, he frowns in contemplation. "Well, I figured they'd either accept a task or quest as payment, or just good old-fashioned gold. We also have an assorted mix of magical items to trade. Finally, I'm a druid of moderate power, so I may have access to magics that they otherwise wouldn't. We'd of course be receptive to a recommendation."

[Sliver]

Scarecrow

"I'm sure the followers of Mirk will be receptive to secrets, especially those magically related..." Scarecrow suggests. "A deal will be made..."

"Huh, if we take our initials, our team name sounds like Sadness..." Scarecrow comments.

"Anyway..." Scarecrow comes back to reality, looking around. "It might not be your cup of tea, but the Monastery of Numiel in Gus has extended their friendship to Jyess, a golden dragon who resides in their vicinity, and I am certain that if they knew we were to meet with you, they would have wished for us to extend their friendships to you as well. It would be quite amusing to see Abbot Waxter searching the market for the juicy stories..."

"Speaking of which, did you know that there is a fairly juicy story currently in the making? One that is actually happening. It's of a certain Dragonborn seducing a satyr, but the planes themselves conspire against their love, as the satyr is merely summoned and the druid is too weak to maintain the spell for a significant length of time, greatly limiting the amount of time the two can spend together." Scarecrow offers as thanks. "Maybe the story will be resolved by the time we meet again."