The Library Of The Arcane Entity

The group stands around the magic pool of resurrection which has been fouled by some dark magic long ago. Rook decides he will use his magic, as strong as he is able to muster to try and dispel the magic that lies within it. Rook reaches into the weave and pulls at the magic within the pool. The sickly green glow from deep within the pool, which seems to arise from hundreds of feet down slowly fades. Soon enough the pool lies quiet and unremarkable. It now is only a shallow pool of only about a foot deep.

The Eye of Falazure In The Wrong Hands

As the group decides the course of their next action, Rook retreats slightly down the long hallway to look at his new treasure. It seems to call to him. He pulls it from his bag of holding and looks at it. It is a large black sphere, with only the hint of a orange glow in the shape of a oval iris surrounding a thin pupil, deep within.

The groups discussion is halted as some of them hear grunts and groans of pain from Rook's direction. They only see Rook's back as he is hunched over with his hands to his face. Smallfang approaches and turns Rook to face everyone. It is then the group can see what Rook is doing. He is clawing his own right eye out of its socket. He holds his eyeball still attached by the thin string of optical nerve still connecting the eye to its socket. They stare in horror as the sinew is snapped and the eye detaches. It is then they realize what Rook is doing. With his other hand Rook holds the Eye Of Falazure.

Smallfang tries to grab for the eye before Rook can do the unthinkable. But Rook is too fast. He slips the large orb, which shrinks as it approaches it's new home. With a pop, the Eye of Falazure has repleaced Rooks old eye. The group stands back as Rook acclimatizes to his new eye. It spins around in it's socket seeming to look in all directions. Rook's vision eventually, coalesces into a new type of vision. He can see with truevision as well as he can see through thin wood and rock walls. The x-ray vision is disturbing at first but he soon comes to enjoy it as he gazes at the group.

Rook also feels an ancient magic grow and begin to spread from the eye into his being. The eye grants him incredible magics. But as he feels the magic begin to spread through him, so does the influence spread to his mind. Rook might have been a little reckless before being tempered only by some moral vagueness of trying to to be evil. This moral compass is now gone.

Confused by the new events, the group flounders for only a bit until they realize they should return Tithe, one of the Order's clerics, back to Baldur's Gate and their keep. Abigail Alebottom, agrees to accompany them. Anywhere is better than here. She is keen to see what has become of the world.

As they make their way back, they soon realize that they have forgotten to take care of the horses and wagon that they used to get here. It will be a long walk back for some.

The Return Of Tithe To The Keep
1,000 XP

Finally, they arrive back in Baldur's Gate and as they enter the keep of the Order Of The Obsidian Dagger, they are met with cheers as they see the group return with the much beloved Tithe. It takes a bit of convincing from Hope, the bard, that the group really deserves a hero's welcome for this mission and soon the group is receiving hugs and slaps on the back. All except, Lirath, who many still fear and loath for his part in Tithe's abduction.

The group, wanting to maintain their status of returned heroes, decide to escort Tithe back to her quarters, before Lirath can make anymore ill thought out actions that may cause a disturbance. Once Tithe is back in her quarters, Hope closes the door and as the group stands in the hallway outside the clerics door. Hope decides to inscribe a glyph of warding upon Tithe's door so that no harm may come to her. But just as she is pulling at the weave to push magic into her newly inscribed glyph, the magic slips awkwardly from her and she feels herself change. She no longer hears or sees or feels quite the same.

The others see after the flash of light fades, instead of Hope standing at the door they see a small potted plant sitting on the stone tile of the floor. The group stares at each other in horror. That's right. Magic cast in the keep has been off, to say the least. Now what?

Rook with a sly smile casts speak in tongues to converse with Abigail, the half-orc. The magic cast goes awry and a blast hits everyone in the hallway, including the potted plant, that is Hope. The pot shatters and the plant lies shriveled and dead upon the stone tiles. It then transforms back into the unconscious form of Hope. Smallfang uses his god given power to heal her.

The group moves out of the keep into the courtyard in hopes of escaping the wild magic surges that occur within the keep. Again, Rook casts the spell again, and again he feels the spell slipping as he casts it. Rook feels the energy building up. It will cause him harm if he holds it, so he looks around and sees Lirath. Rook releases all of the energy, in the form of lightning, and casts it at Lirath. With bright flash of arc lightning and the sound of thunder, Lirath lies dead upon the ground.

When the dust settles and the smell of ozone in the air dissipates, Smallfang approaches Lirath's body and heals the elf.

Exploring The Library

Realizing that whatever has affected the weave of magic within the Order's keep has grown, the group questions a few of the Order's members and find that the problem had started off in the lower levels, where the library is housed. It started off with members seeing odd sights out of the corner of their eyes, the arcanic lights flickering and  disturbing sounds It progressed to the point where people went missing and now no one will venture into the library.

Rook sends an illusion of himself down into the library. He is able to see the library in shambles with many books tossed upon the floor. He hears voices and moves towards them. He is able to see with  his newly acquired eye through the thin walls of the library. Moving about the shelves of the next room are two fox-like creatures dressed in robes and wearing eyeglasses on the ends of their long noses. The two arcanaloths go methodically through the bookshelves seeming to be looking for knowledge and magic they can pilfer. They discuss their findings with each other until they look up and seemingly through the shelves and the walls to wear the illusion of Rook stands. Their conversation halts for only a moment and then they discuss the qualities of Rook's illusion. They think it is a fair illusion, not entirely without some skill. Passable.

Rook deems it time to return upstairs to the others and let them know what's going on.

Arcanaloths In The Library
2,000 XP

The group gathers together and decides that this disturbance in the weave cannot be left to grow as it has done in the past few weeks. More than a few of them discuss the problem of not being able to reliably cast spells down there but eventually the group descends the stairs into the library. The library is dark with sputtering arcanic lights and random tears in the fabric of the plane appear and disappear. Some tears large enough to fall through some small enough just to be able to see through. On the other side seems to be a dark, star and mist filled infinite sky.

Rook tells them the room where he has spotted the arcanaloths. They move into the room and as they move along the massive bookshelves, several of the group encounter the arcanoloths. Hope tried to talk to the aranaloths in hopes she can find out what is going on. Who are they? What are they doing here? Are they responsible for what is happening to the weave here?

Hope finds out that the arcanaloths have come, attracted by the large collection of knowledge and magic items housed here, when they sensed a tear through the plane which they could cross into. They seek to collect up the knowledge before it is sucked away. They are definitely not responsible for what is going on in their world.

An Odd Current

Katya, meanwhile is fascinated by the slight current of air which seems to be pulling in everything in a particular direction. She spends her time making observations by dropping various items of differing weight and making notes on the results. While she pulls a book of the shelf as a source of a piece of paper to observe, she sees that most of the books words and letters are being pulled off the page. Some of them in a jumbled mess along the sides of the pages. Eventually she discovers that all things, including the words on all of the books are being pulled in one particular direction....deeper into the library.

As Katya tells this to the group, Smallfang has Katya point out which direction everything is being pulled towards, and he strides in that direction. Coming to a pair of large doors, Smallfang whips them open and the current of air pulling everything increases dramatically. The group moves hesitantly through with Smallfang in the lead. The weave casters hang back trying to avoid using their magic.

The rooms architecture flows from that of the library into unfamiliar rough rock as the two planes begin to blend together.

The Shabti Librarians
7,800 XP

They are soon blocked by several stone statues. They are olive colored statues in the form of humans wearing loin cloths and wearing jewelry around their necks and arms. They tell the group that they may proceed if they intend to give all of their magic and knowledge to Azim, the All Knowing and All Seeking. The group is not so sure they are willing. So they, one by one, take on the statues. The statues retaliate and throw down their arm jewelry, which quickly transform into massive snakes which attack.

Soon the room is quiet again, with only the sound of rushing air flowing deeper yet into the library.

They walk deeper into the library. They find themselves in a vast chamber with a large glowing orb floating in the middle. It is sucking all of the energy, knowledge and just about everything else into itself. Smallfang approaches it and inspects the object.

Smallfang sees a form, a human form, within. It looks to be Azim, the great grand nephew of the great mage Armakan Amun-Ra. The Order had some time ago sent a group to help Azim regain access to the Soul Spire, the tower of the assumed late-Armakan Amun Ra. Pieces of imagery flash through Smallfang's mind. He sees Azim being sent away from the Soul Spire by the not-dead-at-all Armakan. Azim blamed The Order and set out for revenge. He sold his soul to an old gnome woman who's magic shop appears whenever and wherever she wishes.

Azim and The Arcane Entity
2,900 XP

Smallfang now sees through Azim's eyes. He has acquired great power and knowledge but know faces death several times a day. He has sold his soul and assumed he would have a lifetime of being able to gain knowledge and power enough to fend of the old gnome woman but it would seem she now is trying to kill him constantly. "Accidents" constantly befall him and he is surrounded by chaos which threatens him at every move. In desperation, he peforms a spell ritual he is not prepared for and is turned into this arcane entity. It's only purpose, that of which was foremost in Azim's mind at the time of his death.

Acquire knowledge and power...and seek revenge on The Order.

The arcane entity releases barrage after barrage of magic missle-like attacks and tentacles of arcane energy. The group has to contend with it's power attacks as well as the growing rips in the fabric of this material plane. When the arcane entity is finally defeated and Azim's soul is released, assuredly to be claimed by the old gnome woman.

Now with the arcane entity defeated, the rifts begin to tear wide open. Each of the group begins to fall through the tears and begin falling through a dark star filled sky. As they oddly land upon a rocky ground, they are disoriented and have trouble finding which way is up. Moving is an odd combination of moving their limbs and willing themselves forward.

The Astral Plane and the Mysterious Starcallers

At one point everyone is pulled through and they witness several robed creatures floating towards the largest tear in the plane. Orbs of energy orbit around the creatures heads as they converge upon a tear. Lirath approaches one and attacks it. It shrugs off the attack as one would fend off an annoying insect. It hits back hard and tells Lirath to leave them to their work of healing the universe. The rest of the group leaves them alone.

But with the tears quickly being healed and closed off they decided they need to get back to their material plane. Hope and Lirath use dimension door to escape back into the library. Katya, Smallfang and Rook are soon trapped. That is until Rook produces an illusion of a tuning fork. He concentrates on the illusion. Forming the fork in just the right way that is is of the proper frequency for the world they were just pulled out of. When he believes it is just right, he forces it to become real.

With a quick strike against the heel of his hand, the fork rings true and he uses planeshift and they too are back in the library.