Session 93: Books and Bureaucracy
General Summary
- Finally departing Sharn, the Crew managed to infiltrate the closed-down Orien teleportation facility through a wide variety of means - appearing as a messiah, convincing the guard they were part of an investigation, stealth, rat stealth, and more. Ashpin gave Alden a become-a-puddle potion so that he could escape after activating the circle.
- And so, the Crew arrived in the Library, within its teleportation facilities. Several major cities had their own nook, and presumably, the Crew was in Sharn's. Some sort of ward flashed and an alarm sounded, though it was immediately silenced by a robed warforged sweeping the floor.
- The warforged, Halien, seemed to have expected the Crew's arrival somehow. It was hard to interpret what he was saying, though he seemed to suggest the Crew justified their unusual arrival somehow. Much debate ensued.
- Meanwhile, Ashpin was engaging in another identity crisis, or schizophrenic episode, or mental breakdown, or a simple conversation. It was hard to tell, but he immediately left for Lyrris College, assuring the Crew he would be right back and meet them in the main chambers of the central building - the Grand Athenaeum - they were currently in.
- Hareth unnecessarily led Ashpin to his goal, saying there were two kalashtar presences within the Library. Ashpin quickly discovered the first - a thoroughly disregarded tome, buried in the archives of the College, that Ashpin sensed to leak psionic energy. It was the Way of the Wandering Dream.
- Upon meeting back up in the Athenaeum, the Crew discovered there were three levels of access in the Library - Public, Restricted, and Forbidden. Restricted access was granted via prior authorization, through prior acceptance and enrollment, faculty status, recognized scholarly achievement, or by petitioning the Epistemological Board. Forbidden information is only for those of eminent status within the Library.
- N'nchyk's scholarly achievements were drudged up at the front desk, and he was granted access. The remainder of the Crew, however, was shipped to the Board.
- After tediums of paperwork and confusing scheduling, the Crew gained an audience with the Board. Viribus was nominated as the spokesperson. General questions were asked of them first - why they requested access, for what purposes, if any harm could come to the Library of it. Each Boardmember then had a specific request or petition of the Crew, and they had to accede to three of them to be granted Restricted access.
- The Crew at first had no need to hear the 5th Boardmember's request, but then decided to hear it out - it was a request to find and recover an artifact called the Dultimeter of Distress that had been lost to the Library. It was an arcane mirror that shows the user at its lowest point in their life. The Library sought its return because it reveals core truths about identity, decision, and consequence, and could potentially be connected to the Draconic Prophecy if it showed a moment that has not yet happened.
- So, the Crew hunted down and recovered the Dultimeter through their excellent skills and wit, hidden in a forgotten storage room in Lyrris College. Ashpin saw a moment he has not yet experienced - kneeling in the ruins of a monastery, tainted with the presence of the daelkyr, and Hareth completely gone. Bagan, too, saw something that has not yet come to fruition - the mountains of his home in flames, disfigured, warped, and a dark presence beneath them.
- After that happy time, the Crew moved on to the Tabernacle, home of religion, philosophy, and planar studies in a hunt for information about the Dreaming Dark, and perhaps the kalashtar. Firstly, however, the Crew found information on another topic they had been searching for - the Silver Crusade, written upon a silver-gilded scroll that glows black when read.
- Additionally, in the Pantheon Hall, they discovered a lecture being given by Brother Halien of the Eighth Voice - the same robed warforged they first encountered in the Library.
- The Crew seemed to have made a positive impression on Brother Halien, and he was pleased to see them - from what they could tell, at least.
- He began to walk and discuss with them. He asked them, strangely, what their connection was to the Harbingers. He gave them a textbook, penned by his own hand, called Faith and Force: Marginal Religions of the Five Nations, in which the Harbingers were described in detail. At the request of Ashpin, he also recognized the name Kallock, and led them to his office, also within the Tabernacle.
- And thus, Ashpin and the Crew met Kallock. He wore heavy robes reinforced with otherworldly plates, and kept his long, raven-black hair tied in a single tight braid. He bore an intricate tattoo running from his left palm to the base of his neck — a series of arcane and psionic symbols that resembled drifting constellations. As soon as Ashpin locked eyes with him, he knew this was the second kalashtar presence within the Library.
- Kallock spoke deliberately and firmly - first asking Ashpin if he would kill ten men for each one in the room with them. When Ashpin confirmed - "What's to say I already haven't?" - Kallock proceeded.
- He said he was masquerading in the Library for one reason - to hunt the Dreaming Dark. There was a distinct and disturbing lack of information to be found on them nearly anywhere, and so he made his way to the largest repository of knowledge the continent could offer, making himself at home. And in fact, through careful deliberation and time, he has managed to learn some important information.
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