Session 19: True Colors

General Summary

Within the halls of the Tarragon Library, the Menagerie encountered Pustak'viram, the Book Wyrm, who bid them welcome and offered them a chance to peruse his library, in exchange for a book of great worth. Bartholomew attempted to bargain with his research notes and several unpublished books, until finally relenting and offering the Obscuris Cosmology to the silver dragon. Pustak'viram explained that the book had been stolen from the library centuries ago and agreed to allow each member of the Menagerie to read one book from the library in exchange for having the Cosmology returned to his collection. Bartholomew finished reading the Cosmology while the rest of the party explored the depths of the Tarragon library.

Skreech found the collected research of Thaddeus Quackenbush, a gnome artificer of some renown whose work included prototypes of Francis and Gerald. However, the book was cursed, and the Xiraxian lost his ability to speak Thri-kreen in exchange for suddenly being able to understand Celestial.

The group happened upon a section of the library containing a statue of the god Carthalion, where Dacha found a curious book with his name on it. Reading the book revealed that it contained a record of his entire life and was still being written as he read it. He attempted to recall the memory of him finding the Xiraxian structure within the cave near his childhood home, but found some things he had seemingly forgotten as part of the recorded memory, with mentions of "large rats" attacking him and his friends inside the cave. This caused him to suffer minor psychic trauma, but also gave him minor powers of divination.

Having finished the Obscuris Cosmology, Bartholomew asked Pustak'viram if the dragon had any information that could help them counter Deleth's plans. The dragon produced a book titled "The Magocracy of Arathoxia," which contained a history of the ancient floating city of Arathoxia, including its last known location. He offered to give Bartholomew the book in exchange for the elf finding the lost city and returning to the Tarragon Library with any books he recovers from the ruins. The dragon also explained he would give Bartholomew a means to always be able to find the library should he return with those books.

The group left the library into the pouring rain, unsure of how much time had passed on the Material Plane. They continued their journey upriver until encountering a pair of mutated displacer beasts with eyestalks instead of tails, which they dispatched after Osrick had taken a severe beating from the beasts' magically reflective eyes.

The Menagerie decided to take advantage of Osrick's weakened state and ambushed him, with a well-timed Silence spell and Grasping Vine restraining him long enough for the rest of the group to bound and gag the halfling. They confronted him about their suspicions, and Osrick revealed that he had been betrayed by the Thieves Guild following Rinrin's disappearance, and taken to Aegror where he had been augmented by their scientists.

He explained that the process normally removed the soul from an individual, but for some reason he had retained his. He played along until Gizzikath had sent him as a spy back to the Material Plane, at which point he started working on a plan to undermine the Aegrorian's plan, which involves building three pylons across the Ruuldalai Coast to act as anchors and wait for Deleth to activate the Thaumic Animus Accelerator in Arathoxia, giving them the power they need to open a rift between Aegror and the Material Plane.

Osrick's plan is to recover a Godslayer artifact from the ruins of a Xiraxian ship which had crash-landed on Divostra centuries ago and use it to destroy either the pylons or the Accelerator itself. He explained that he was unsure what the artifact is or how to activate it, but knows that it is able to destroy Xiraxian technology for some reason.

Content with the answers they'd received from the halfling, the Menagerie let him go and made camp for the evening. Dacha sent an animal messenger to his grandfather asking about the memory he'd seen in his arcanobiography, and then had a rather infuriating discussion with Bartholomew regarding the nature of time and free will.

Skreech spent the evening modifying Gerald with a ram helmet, having previously affixed a clockwork lantern to Francis while in the library.

While on watch that evening, Brakmat was confronted by a familiar face; his cousin Brox along with several Tidefang saurians, curious to know why their exiled brethren had returned. Brakmat led his people back to camp, playing along when Brox declared that his cousin's slaves should be brought back to the Tidefang village.