Session 125: Scallywags: A Dwarven Font, Wizard Manipulated

Inside the underbelly of the Ioomore's tower, Mila, Ollie, Lady Sasha and Ilknar are suprised when drapery hung above them from the ceiling turns into shroud golems trying to suffocate them, well Mila and Sasha are grabbed, but when Orran and Wulfgar come to assist, with Nethpione and Ollie, too, they easily shock the golems into nothing but tatters. A few are dispelled by cleric and wizard magic, too.

With this, Mila and Ilknar can continue their bickering about what to go next, where Mila wants to understand this magic, crystalline control panel, and Ilknar wants her to come to this door he just pried open that has a runic symbol floating above the floor. Brimstone wants to follow, but he instead takes the golden dragon wyrmling out of the tower, and he catches up with Dosgratin and Chatulkik as they make their way back to the Crew, hopefully to inform them to wait.

The group decides to about face after that, and not take the floating rune, which Mila says is a teleportation circle, and instead they move passed to find an odd room with a metal, stone, and magical sarcophogus inside. Ilknar complains about the box just being left in the middle of the room. Mila, however, stays behind to take opportunity to investigate the magical control panel, and she finds, eventually, that this entire tower, the former lighthouse, now dilapidated dwarven tower and wizard cloning facility, and Mila has to soon follow the other idiots into the room with what she has learned to be the 'God's Bed', or a healing structure for those who sleep within it.

The leave for the next door, and it takes Mila, Ollie, and then Lady Sasha to open it. There is stone worked hallway for 15 feet before the walkway meanders into dark tunnels of earth, worn away from rains and floods. They follow them below, and they find a grotto, of sorts, with one of Ioomore's security desperately trying to shove off a boat from a small island; he definitely needs at least one more person to even make it move.

Nethpione flies over and ensures he cannot move the ship at all by putting her full weight on it, Ollie shadow jaunts to flank him, and the poor man falls into the water when the others barrel into the small grotto. They are soon quick to see greenish-blue eyes staring at them from the cave structure that makes its way out to the open see. Mila is the first to identify the stone golem, and she wonders if it is now inert, being a creature born of conjuration and transmuation rather than the angered necromancy that also infused the shrouds that ambushed them above. She thinks it will not harm them, and they test this theory by walking closer, and Ilknar offering a small pebble. It watches intently, takes the pebble, and sits, hearing that it can be free, choose its own wants. Sitting seems right enough to that end.

With that done, they converse with this lowly henchmen, and he is convinced finally to safely lead them through the next parts of the tower. A tour guide, to be sure.
The first floor, they must have keen acrobatics to dodge the teeth that form from teh woodwork below, or following the henchmen's clear path. Only Ilknar is bitten by veering from the path. They debate briefly about taking another teleportation circle, but by the fact that it rejects their henchmen tour guide from walking in, they decide to climb the stairs next. The henchmen went first, and paused mid sentence, something about "Come on, you--"

When they come to this next floor, they are bathed in wan, green light, and that light forces them to stop and look away, and thus see the rows, and rows of books and titles of all sorts of knowledges and curiosities. Soon their group gets distracted, wanting desperately to read one of these volumes, get lost in the tomes of the past. Yet, most are able to resist and even save themselves and many of the other Ioomore security henchmen who must have been trapped there like their most recent tour guide. Once they shove them to the next floor, many are finally not charmed anymore, and keenly, Wulfgar's magic helped glean this avenue. The next floor are more books, but those directed at mundane items over decades, centures. Maybe some journals of Ioomore that could be of interest to a small group, and yes, even Lady Sasha novel, too, but most seem to be a distraction. There is, however, also a mirror of true self, what each person would want to look like within. Mila, taller? Sasha, a full-fledged dragon? Mila also finds some spell scrolls, too.

Rising above to the next floor, Lady Sasha faces this alone. In the center is a dark purple flame, and space evenly about in in a diamond shape, four purple crystals, with eyes focused and reflections of Lady Sasha looking back upon her. She resist the wave of necrotic energy that surges through her body, and she quickly steps forward to smash each crystal, like carbuncle of aberrant eyes, and they shatter like festooned glass. They others follow quickly upward to the next floor, and they find more books, but these are ancient and well-used wizard tomes. Many spells to learn from, to see, but not enough time with the impatient party pushing further upward inside this wizard's tower. For, two henchmen, not yet seen by the group, are in the floor above this arcane library, speaking of other eldritch spells and the money they can make from them. These henchmen hear the large group below, and they travel quickly upstairs two more flights of stairs.

The group stops, however, one floor beneath, for two reasons: 1) a gorgeous suit of magical armor is enlarged and displayed on this floor now, armor made for a powerful warrior. A king? It must be Boveen's, and Ioomore was not only helping with cloning, with draconic entities of arcane origins and necromantic beings, but also with intense magical items to reinforce the King. Thus, the pause. 2) goodnes, there are a lot of screams coming from those two above, and they should probably wait for that to end before they interrupt somone else's fun. Problem? Soul-rending death? Thus, the scream stop, and they take time to identify what truly are the abilities of this grand armor. Requires Attunement: Adamantine (immune to criticals), +3 Half-plate, resistance to force, +5 passive Athletics score, Unbreakable by means other than magic.

Impressed, they put in a bag of holding, and then rise up from whence the screams came. They find in the center melting candles that are gluing together mostly platinum and gold coins below. Immediately, once everyone is upstairs, they see hanging, also, from the ceiling and walls, three chained figures. The group's minds are assaulted from these fiends, all but Wulfgar whom is protected divinely, and they hear echoed words from times beyond beckond them to take the glinting pile of coin.

Others hesitate, but Orran takes the gold and begins to gather it, too. Treasure he can divy to all the crew, payment and sanctity, promies for now and after. They are risking life and limb. Soul and sanctity, for break from tyranny. For the Grey Coast's, if not Barur's, soul. However, Ollie and Wulfgar do notice an odd symbol upon some of the coins--one Orran of course sees but does not understand, so he ignores. Thus, Wulfgar and the half-orc Ollie step in and inform him of the darkness this symbol could carry. Wulfgar knows it is the same dark symbol branded upon Ihapaeg, and Ollie explains it belongs to one of the Primordial Eight, Had. The Negation. The First Darkness. Born of the first Woe, the Rape of Purity against the goddess Om, the direct opposition to the Darkness the Cuthbert Order tries to oppose, to control and fight aginst--Had is distinct as the first villain, the first born for Light to exist. Darkness must exist. They then take the time, Wulfgar, Orran, Lady Sasha, Ilknar, and Nethpione to sift through these coins to ensure none have this dark symbol, a curse that would obviously take hold. He has 800 pp and 625 gp remaining, that are presumably not cursed.

Once all gathered, the chained devils on the walls, the trio, and the ceiling too, attack. Lighting from Nethpione and Ilknar, and Hammers from Sasha, with radiant light from Wulfgar, quickly defy the corporeal life of these devils, and the Scallywags return the fiends to the Hells from whence they came. Safe, they rise to the wizard's next floor and ploy.

Above, they find a knight of no common rate distracted as he rifles through magical boxes containing treasures and loot. They talke with him, and he runs away, presumably with his own loot. Ilknar goes to one box, and he reaches in to grab some bags of coin: 875 gp and 175 pp. He passes that out to everyone present. Orran finds more gold in his own, at 900 gp, and 200 pp. Then Mila, too, but not exactly, gold, presumably better. 8 Black Saphires, precious gems worth at least 5000 gp each. Ilknar opens another, and within he finds a golden crowned adorned with gems, and a golden statuette of one of the ancient dragon lords; each of these worth at least 7500 gp. Lastly, Sasha opens a box, and withing she finds pristine long sword, obviously made from the times of the ancient Elvish Empire, and he hands it to Orran, the only elf, whom, reads some of the ancient script: something of the moon light, the goddess Sehanine blesses this blade. Orran will use it as a gift later on as much of the treasure he has gathered this day, gifts to crew and friends. Promises, again, to protect souls and names. However, upon the last chest opening, the two armor statues nearby animate, and Mila quickly dispels them both.


They find they have two more floors to rise, and on the second to last, they find a long table, and a teleportation circle in the corner that leads out. However, there were two balconies found in these last four floors, so there is easy escape and access should they need. Nevertheless, they see on this table, and on the walls about, notes and plans, and scribbles and runes, about maps and more maps of the Grey Coasts. Ioomore was in deep with the plans of the Queen and King before that. He knew much about what had fallen, and what they need to do next. They, howerver, these Scallywags here, do not this time take the moment to learn more than a passing glance. Ilknar takes some of the plans about the Giant Lands and Seas with him, but that is all. They rise to the final floor.


Upon there, on a balconies gazebo more than actual rooftop, they find a dark red lit room, with blood stains upon the floor and a metal, arcane tub at the center of the room. Within the tub, more blood pools about half way full, and body parts of humanoid and draconic monstrosity, some half-made construct, float within the iron basin. Mila is quick to discern this golem was never finished, and that Ioomore has invented a new form of golem for wizards to play with--she seems not quite impressed, more disgusted by the notion before her.

With this, they take some time to plan, to fly and float the citizens and themselves out of the tower with Nehtpione and Mila's help, and then take what else they could find as useful. Then, they walk far enough away, letting the innocent workings and security run away to their own freedom, and they turn to look at the dwarven fort, this lost, artificial font, and they let Wulfgar call upon the primordial rage to center an earthquake upon, both wrathful and angry enough to ensure no future generations will find such heinous knowledge.