Mini 20: Antidote Search
General Summary
17th of Keltier 1524 Continued
It's just after 12:30pm as they continue to search the building. They open the door to a lab. Six long stone tables are set with steel and glass laboratory equipment in this chamber, whose walls are lined with shelves holding all manner of strange knickknacks and tools. An armed humanoid with white skin and red eyes moves from table to table, adjusting bubbling mixtures and carefully adding reagents. Clearly undead.
Isabelle gets everyone to quietly approach so they can attack this figure. When they fully open the door, the figure is very confused about why they are here. He asks they why they are here and Nobu just shoots him with an arrow, which clears up the confusion for him pretty quickly. The fight isn't difficult for the party, however the scientist tells off Galanith for having area of effect spells inside a lab. He's disgusted by whoever had inducted Galanith in lab safety, which was no one. Isabelle offers to have everyone leave the lab if they can just get the cure.
The scientist becomes enraged at the request, demanding that the gods must die! As the party destroy this undead scientist, it continues to rant and rave about the death of the gods as it disintegrates. They search the room and the body. They find:
- Two keys
- An alchemist kit
Nobu spends time sketching out the layout of the lab. This is finished at 1:30pm. Balthazar also takes some samples are sipping and testing some of them. They backtrack to the entrance and use the keys to go into a door that was left as they entered the building. Inside are smashed stone tables litter the floor in this chamber. Two stone chests built into the floor stand next to each other along the far wall. A door to the west is inscribed with words in Draconic runes. A large iron lever is flipped into the up position on the wall next to the door. The inscription in archaic Draconic reads: “Disease storage. Authorized personnel only.”
Looking over the door that led to the furnace area, they see a draconic word for disappear carved in tiny letters to indicate about the trap they had discovered in the light world. The key bypasses the trap. Inside this room are eight chests and there were two in the previous room. They search the chests and see there are 28 vials of the poison. Brienda shows off some of the knowledge in preparation for being head of her house in explaining how groups can use a home base, so they cannot leave the poison here as others will come back for it. It seems she played a game with her Uncle designed to help her think tactically about running her kingdom with an army. They will leave them for now and take them on the way out.
They continue out to the hallway and have to destroy three more undead before they can search some of the rooms. They head for what they know from the light world to be a room/study that seemed different from the other rooms. This room is in immaculate condition, apparently having been cleaned up after the destruction seen elsewhere in the complex. A crisply made bed stands at the center of the west wall, with small tables off to either side. The room also contains a stone desk set with a chair, and a chest built into the floor.
Isabelle opens the chest and finds snakes attacking her. They quickly deal with the problem being Isabelle is poisoned by the snakes. They quickly search the room. They find a note on the desk.
To whomever finds this:
All my people are dead: my family, my friends, and my workers. I, too, am technically dead. Were it not for my quick thinking and prowess with necromancy, our important work at Salsvault would be over. I continue to labor in my undead form, though my goal has changed from trying to cure a plague to try and make a plague for those who inflicted this upon us. Trying to make a sickness that can infect the gods themselves and their pathetic champions. For if not because of the gods, why would a plague be allowed to run rampart, hurting innocent people. If I have perished, I implore you to find my lab, find my notes, and finish my work. The gods must pay for what they have done.
Balthazar wonders if the people here were killed by a force instead of a plague before they became undead as they discuss this finding. Galanith explains the Gods always get blamed when mortals fail to find their own solutions. Brienda gets the coins out of the chest for the group. 1,006 sp, 45 cp, and 201 gp.
They move down to the library to find the room repaired and the books intact, much to Balthazar's delight. They take the time to search the library. By 4pm they have found a few helpful and interesting things:
- Information about disease lab set up and how they work procedurally. This includes using golems to transport dangerous materials (with hand written notes to indicate it is not required if the person is already dead).
- Journal documenting the battle against the plague in the area and the slow deuteration of the facility and the desperation of the staff as their numbers slowly diminished. 10 journals total.
- Separate Journals documenting the poison for the gods. Five in total. Showing a raving madness from someone who was desperate and angry at the world who came into contact with a god like figure made of ice and stone who promised them revenge in exchange for help.
- 2 scrolls are also found.
- A card from the Umbraconti.
The card's writing has old elven writing on it this time.
Weaving magic and swordplay into a perfect dance of death.
The oath of those whose blade's sing know who must be protected and to fail, makes you fallen.
Galanith recognises the symbol as she looks over the card to be of the Bladesingers. Elven warrior mages. She explains to the group that Bladesingers swear an Oath to protect other elves and must presume they are friends. If they fail to come to the aid of an elf, unless they have proven themselves to be the enemy, they become what is known as Fallen. A Fallen looses access to their magic and are known as betrayers of their own kind.
They consider this card with the previous ones. The first card about Illusions, "We live in a world of illusion" was a clue and when Balathazar saw through an illusion, he received a scroll. They leave this side quest for the moment and refocus on their main goal.
Thinking over the journals, and how procedural the main scientist was, they come to the conclusion that there is an antidote that has likely been developed. It would either be here or in the manor. Isabelle is worried about being here too late in the shadow world. Balthazar agrees and gets a little too focused on the journals and the poison though, and just wants to go. He goes and collects the poisons with the idea of heading out. He is convinced to continue searching by the party, but keeps the poison on himself.
The search the other five rooms on the study/library side of the building. There is no antidote there but there are undead that need to be killed, which they do. There are even enchanted cutlery that they have to destroy. Balthazar stays out of the fights due to the poisons on him. They do find a curious rug under some rubble, but leave it for now as they search. They also search some of the rooms on the lab side, avoiding the door with the painted X on it. There are enchanted swords to destory on this side of the building.
At 5pm they find the antidote (x20). They also find a magical artificial eye.
