The group leaves their ship and travel through the city of Baldur's Gate and enter the upper city. Finding the way is easy as an odd tower which seems to defy physics and remain upright without toppling despite having a very lopsided appearance, appears far above the surrounding rooftops. Rumor has it that it has been occupied for some decades.
Squatter At The Soul Spire
He notices the uniform of the The Order Of The Obsidian Dagger. He inquires if the Order has finally come to aid him in gaining access to his tower. His right by inheritance. The group looks at each other awkwardly. He complains that he has gone to The Order many times with his plea and each time he has been turned away. He has spent years going through the legal work and finally the council has seen to grant him the rightful inheritance to the tower, The Soul Spire. He is a fledgling magician and wishes to access all of his grandfathers works so that he may someday become a great wizard, greater than his great grandfather perhaps.
Now that the Soul Spire is his. He cant even access it. There are creatures in there that bar him from entering more than just the foyer and there are noises coming from upstairs. No one is supposed to be here. It is his by legal rights!
The group tells them they are of the Order but they come here at the behest of an old gnome woman.
Azim describes the gnome woman and it would seem they are talking about the same woman.
He is disappointed. He had hoped that it was not the old woman.
It would seem after failing to get The Order to help. He was approached by the old woman who said that she could have the tower cleaned out for him....in return for his soul. He was hoping that once he had acquired access to the tower he could become a great mage, like his great grandfather and be able to fend off or even kill the old woman. Thus not having to pay such a heavy price.
He is willing to have the group help him but he implores them to leave as much of the spellbooks and items for him. He is counting on them to help him overcome Madam Tiqull.
The Foyer and It's Guardians
The group finally enters the building.
The enter a large open foyer done in beautiful marble with sun shining brightly through stained glass windows, even though it was grey and dim outside. In the center of the room is a large pool of water within a stone ring. Around the stone ring are several runes with mysterious shapes. Araxie ponders briefly if she should jump in the pool and swim. The others yell at her to not jump into an unknown pool in a wizards tower.
They are greeted warmly by a humanoid creature. Part mechanical and part magic. He introduces himself as Khalid. He tries to amuse the group while telling the group that the master is not in.
The group is curious. Is not the new owner outside? the great grandchild of the wizard.
No. that is not how the tower is acquired. The master cannot be presumed dead, simply because he has not returned. The tower also must be earned not inherited.
The group asks if they can look around. Khalid tells them that they can but they must first deal with the security...which is in the form of two death knights. The group decides not to test their luck against such formidable foes.
They are told that if they possess the key then they may move freely about the tower.
They look to the bottom of the pool in the middle of the room. There at the bottom in the middle lies a large golden key.
The Key In The Pool
Deshani grabs Khalid using bigsy's hand and tries to put him into the pool of water. Something prevents the jester from touching the pool as she repeatedly tries to push the creature into the pool as his body contorts violently as a field prevents his immersion.
Val tries to penetrate the force field with his hand. He can but stops just short of touching the water.
Maddox moves towards one of the two death knights. He has heard of such poor creatures. Heroes of a long ago age, forced into service, their souls not freed until they can complete a quest from when they were alive. Two red glowing eyes set deep within the armor follow him.
Maddox kneels in front of the knights and prays to his god, Tempest, to release these poor souls from their indentured labor.
Maddox is dismayed to feel an odd distance between him and his god. The power of his god is still there but distant and muffled. Maddox moves outside to see if the power of his god is being stopped by something in the tower but it is the same outside as it is inside.
A Distant God
Seeing Maddox's puzzlement, Deshani questions Maddox as to what's wrong. He tells her and she uses her near encyclopedic knowledge of arcana, lore and dieties to suggest that perhaps it is the effect of the infernal book he has been carrying. Perhaps it is to blame for their shared dreams of monstrous creatures. Perhaps it is the reason evil devils have been pursuing them. Perhaps it is the book itself which is actively been trying to mute Maddox's patron deity.
In the meantime, Araxie and Val been trying to figure out the pool. Val approaches the water and touches it. On top of the stone wall which incricles the pool are 13 runes. Val approaches one of the symbols and gingerly touches the water. The acidic burn of the water is torture and he pulls back with incredible pain. Acid. The group spends time investigating the runes and deduce that each of the symbols corresponds to a type of damage. Whichever one is pressed, the water will do that kind of damage.
Araxie approaches the same spot that Val had stood at beside the pool. She is resistant to acids.
Unfortunately, at the same time Maddox, curious about the runes takes his sword and takes a mighty swing at one of the runes. He hits a rune which looks like a hammer. He does this just as Araxie reaches into the water. She is immediately gravely injured and thrown 5 feet back away from the pool. She raises her head from the floor to glower at Maddox. Maddox puts away his sword and mumbles an apology.Nasty Water
1,500 XP
Araxie approaches the pool again. She walks up to the Acid rune and depresses it, giving Maddox a side long glare. She tosses in her net in order to grab the key at the bottom. Unfortunately, her toss was poor and the resulting splash sends drops of water onto her which immediately begin to burn through her. She collapses upon the floor, dying. Val steps in to heal her and she immediately scrambles away from the accursed pooled.
While Araxie recuperates, the others send Azim to their ship to retrieve fishing rods. After a bit of careful work the group is able to retrieve the golden key. Araxie controls the water still clinging onto the key to move it so that they can pick up the key. They move through the foyer and up the stairs all holding onto each other with Maddox at the front holding the key prominently so that the death knights will allow them to move freely through the tower.
The Wizards Bedroom & A Mimic
450 XP
After Araxie nearly looses an arm to the treasure chest that turned out to be a mimic, a creature disguising itself as a chest, the group moves about the rest of the room looking for useful items and any other interesting bits. They notice a large clockwork celestial map on the ceiling which moves with intricate patterns representing the stars and various planes. A window looks out upon a mountain landscape midwinter. The scene is obviously not that of Baldur's Gate. A picture displays a summer picnic scene with a family moving about and enjoying the day.
Deshani inspects the pink crystal that floats above the table. It moves towards her and seems to be trying to communicate with her. It seems to beckon her to follow as it moves towards the stairs.
The Chamber Pot Of Holding
Val and Maddox look for magical treasure. Since the chest was clearly not a place to store any sort of treasure it must be somewhere else. They both look under the bed. All that's there is a chamber pot. Val pauses, then finally grabs the chamber pot and looks in. All he can see is a dark void within. He pulls it out and looks deep into the bowels of the chamber pot. He cannot see anything except blackness. He decides to tie a rope to one of the handles and the other to himself. For the next while he walks around trailing a chamber pot clanging behind him.
Eventually after much nervous experimentation. Val allows himself to fully enter the chamber pot. He enters a dimension of blackness. The little light there is glitters off numerous gold coins and a few gems. Val spends time trying to figure out how to maneuver around until Maddox pulls him out.
<DM Note: What the Fuck!?!? That was hilarious....and incredible. I didn't think anyone would find the treasure in the chamber pot.>
Deshani finally gives in to the pink crystal's beckoning. She follows it up the stairs. The next landing is clearly a library. Or was. Half of the room is destroyed. Bookshelves broken. Books torn apart. But the crystal beckons further up the stairs. Deshani is curious though. She enters the library followed by Val. She speaks out to Val but her voice echoes back to hear just delayed enough to cause her to stutter and falter. Odd. She tries again and calls out to the group below.
The Desecrated Library
Immediately the volume of her voice is echoed again and again at such volume that the two of them cover their ears and are just able to keep from passing out. They exit the library, returning to the living quarters where they tell the rest of the group about the library and warn them about being quiet. Returning up to the library, Deshani quietly investigates the shelves and central table. Most of the books are destroyed and sitting on the table is a small wooden box with holes along its sides.
But Deshani's little pink crystal continues to beckon to her. It wishes them to continue up the stairs. At the top of the stairs is a large circular door with a keyhole the size and shape of the key Maddox holds. Unlocking the door and continuing up the stairs they pass a floor with a massive summoning circle and then continuing upwards arrive at the top of tower which is open to the sky.
At the top of the tower they can see down onto the city of Baldur's Gate. At the center of the tower's roof is a massive telescope. It's metal construction bears many sigils and arcane runs covering the instrument as it points towards the heavens. As Araxie approaches to look through the telescope a tall gentleman with pale blue skin walks around from the far side of the telescope.
The New Owner Of The Soul Spire
7,200 XP
He introduces himself as Vassago. He is now the owner of the Soul Spire. When the group informs him of the great grandson, Azim, who awaits below, Vassago laughs. The Soul Spire cannot be inherited it must be earned....by killing the previous owner.
In an instant, Vassago is no longer a tall thin human, albeit with blue skin, he is a massive djinn, who stands in a swirling storm of wind which holds him aloft. With a last glance into the telescope Araxie notices beside the crystal structure the words, carved in with perhaps a rock or a boot heel, "blue button".
The djinn attacks.
Deshani tries to grab the djinn with Bigby's Hand but the djinn is able to force his way out. He attacks by creating whirlwinds which catch Deshani and toss her like a child's rag doll. The rest of the group retaliates and Araxie pushes the blue button that she finds on a panel on the telescope. There is a rushing air sound and in an instant there is the same old man from the crystal structure on the moon standing beside Araxie bent over gasping for breath.
They cannot take the time to ask the old man anything, for the djinn is moving the whirling air storm that holds Deshani, over the towers threshold and she tumbles directly over the 200 hundred foot drop to the ground.
Maddox begins to bring massive damage to the djinn and finally the old wizard is able to stand and the djinn dissipates into mist and travel down the stairs towards the summoning circle. The whirlwind which was holding Deshani aloft though, dissipates along with the djinn. Deshani immediately begins to plummet towards the ground. She is able to stabilize herself quickly enough and casts Bigby's Hand once more and catches herself within the giant hand. Bringing the hand back up to the tower's roof the jumps off and onto the roof badass style.
<DM Note: Nicely done. I was pretty sure Deshani was going to die. Did we bend the rules a bit?...maybe...but full points for creativity>
The Return Of Amun-Ra
1,000 XP
Introductions are made and the old wizard, Armaka Amun-Ra, thanks the group. It would seem that he had summoned the djinn in hopes of obtaining more power (and maybe a wish or two) but the djinn was able to trick him into being trapped in one of the wizards own traps. Apparently, the djinn, was trying to destroy the library in revenge for being initially captured by the wizard but perhaps the myna-rig was able to fend the creature off.
He offers Araxie the myna-rig as a gift. Who knows....perhaps she can make some interesting use of it. He notices that Deshani now is accompanied by the pink crystal which has taken to riding near her shoulder. Amun-Ra explains that it is an emerald eye, but it seems to have been cracked. Perhaps the djinn is responsible. Unfortunately, it can no longer talk but seems to communicate well enough with Deshani. He tells Deshani that it would seem the two have bonded, she should take it with her.
Maddox hovers around the wizard's room long enough for the wizard to give in and give Maddox something. He hands him a folded square of paper. He tells Maddox to unfold it when he needs it. It will turn into a paper version of a beholder. It will only be able to attack once before it goes up in flames...but hey....he's always thought they were fun.
Maddox asks if the wizard can teach him how to make them.
The wizard says no.
No comments:
Post a Comment