Hunting Urvis (Part 3)
Log Info
- Title: Hunting Urvis (Part 3)
- GM: Telamon
- Place: Greater Alexandros, near the Desolation
With the strange feminine visage now vanished, along with the two inevitables after their defeat, the storeroom is quiet again. Inspection shows that the crates hold various mundane stores, the boxes stamped with the markings of Alexandros. Bolts of wool cloth, sealed jars of oil and honey, khazadi breadstuffs (they never go bad, they just go from food to improvised bludgeoning weapons)... nothing unusual or magical.
A door leads out of the storeroom, further into the watchpost.
Karasu is none too fond of voices appearing out of thin air and the thought that any moment they might be observed by those they are trying to sneak up on. Nor the fact that it seems that the mage they are after seems to have at least one ally. He motions to Rune about the next door, trusting her to handle any traps or locks that it might hold, but moves to offer her what assistance that he might be able to.
GAME: Rune rolls perception+7: (1)+33+7: 41 (EPIC FAIL) GAME: Rune takes ten on disable device+7: (10)+31+7: 48
Corey, meanwhile, is all cheer after healing himself--now that the feminine visage is gone. "So then," he says, "it seems we've company to deal with later. Rune? Would you mind taking a look at the door before I lead us through it?" It's probably not too wise for him to be going through any more traps or locks by himself.
He looks at Karasu. "Are you alright, my nightingale?"
For a moment longer than is strictly necessary, Rune remains hidden in the shadow of the shelves. Even if it seems that the strange apparition couldn't see them, the rogue seems to take the track of 'better safe than sorry'. It isn't until the motion from Karasu that she seems to emerge from the darkness, a few whispy shadows clinging to her form before they vanish like smoke.
"Yeah, I'm all good with 'door duty'." Taking out her tool-kit, Rune crouches down to take a look at the door first, making sure she looks it over for signs of traps before going to work on the lock. "Hmm. This one's a bit tougher than normal, but I think I got this." She pulls out an additional pick, wedging it in to the lock before returning to the task. Eventually, there is an audible click.
Withdrawing the tools, she gathers them up, "Should be good to go. Just... be careful. There's way more magic in this place than I normally like dealing with."
MAC-B1G offered is evaluation on threats and threat allies versus the present taskforce composition. It observes unit-designate Rune disarm further intrusion countermeasures before its faceplate pans to the others. "Specify desired tactical options for incursion."
With a small reassurance from his partner that all is well, Cor'ethil goes up to the door. "Stay behind me, MAC," he says, choosing to use a nickname for the war golem. "Rune, you as well, perhaps in line after MAC. Karasu can take up the rear."
The paladin murmurs a word, and the holy bond that is on his blade dissipates. He trudges through the open and unlocked door then.
The hall beyond has more of those strange greenish runes, though now they no longer glow. Quiescent? Dormant? No way to tell without a wizard to examine them. Another doorway on the left side of the hall, and a closed door at the far end.
GAME: Rune rolls perception+6: (5)+33+6: 44 GAME: Rune rolls perception+7: (16)+33+7: 56
"Directive acknkowledged," MAC affirms before following Cor'ethil into the hallway beyond the door. It halts as Rune performs further reconaissance and disarmament, faceplate panning between ingress options whilst awaiting further data.
"You got it, boss." Rune has no issues taking command, it seems, which may be a bit unusual for a rogue. Then again, she may just be used to standing behind the man in armor and using him as a meat shield.
"Looks like we got more doors?" She asks, peeking around the Sildanyari man. "Going to go check them out. Give me a minute." Taking a little bit to examine each of the doors, she looks back, "No traps. That one isn't locked." She points to the one on the left. "This one is. Your lead, which way do we go?"
"The left one's not unlocked?" Corey asks, looking at the left-hand door with a raising dark brow. "Either a mistake to leave it open or there's nothing of consequence... Either way, worth checking out."
He motions for the group to follow him. "Left we go!" he decides with cheer.
Inside, it's... not a mess, but the best term is 'creatively untidy'. Wizards' workshops get like this, and so do artificers'. And this one combines the best and worst of both. An entire wall is dedicated to pinned drawings and notes, from floor to ceiling, with stickpins and colored thread connecting several documents. There's an underlying pattern to it though -- it's definitely not a 'wall of crazy'.
A long workbench dominates the room, large enough for a humanoid to lie down on comfortably. It's stained with several substances, and bits of wire and metal are littered across it. A rack of artificer tools (Mac recognizes them easily) stands next to a complete alchemical lab as well as several implements used by wizards when crafting devices and magic items. If this is Urvis's lab, he's clearly too talented for his own good.
"Mmmm. I don't like this," Cor'ethil concludes upon scanning the lab. He closes his eyes a moment before nodding. "I don't detect anything overtly evil here, so... I guess it is, at least, clean of that."
He looks over at the wall with the documents and colored thread. "Anyone spot anything like the lady we saw?" he asks. "It might be nice to know who we're going up against later on in the process."
GAME: MAC-B1G rolls craft/artifice: (4)+18: 22
While the others enter the room properly, Rune lingers in the doorway. The first reason, is to make sure that they aren't trapped should someone close the door behind them. The second, is that it doesn't take her long to realize that exploring this sort of room is well beyond her depth. "I'm... not going to be able to make much sense of anything magic-related, I'm afraid." After a pause, she adds, "Magic was the sort of thing taught to full-bloods, at least if you ask my father." The half-sil rolls her eyes.
MAC-B1G's faceplate slowly traverses as it scans the interior of the workspace, noting both its contents and organization of the same. "Scan complete. Data indicates target is knowledgable of: artifice, wizardy, coercion of extrplanar entities, and the restoration of deactivated units. Multi-discipline aptitude is highly uncommon."
The remark from Rune makes Corey pause, and he turns to look at her with an expression caught somewhere between horror and sorrow. "Why would he say such a thing?" he asks, and his brows seem to decide more firmly on sorrow. "He's a fool to have decided such. It seems to me that you can put your mind to excel at almost anything."
He sighs gently. "I've heard of, unfortunately, plenty of sildanyari who are not kind to half-sil or anyone else, but... I don't understand them. I truly do not. So many things can be found in nature, and it is my calling as a Warden to ensure that their safety is preserved."
The paladin turns his attention to MAC-B1G as the war golem finishes looking around. "Interesting," he says. "In other words... We are really dealing with someone who can be quite dangerous if the mind is put to the task."
He mulls over it a moment more before gesturing to head out of the room. "Let's go take a look at the locked door ahead of us," he says. "Rune? Do you mind putting your excellent skills who your father is unworthy of to the test again?"
"Don't worry, I don't judge you based on his failings." Rune casts a glance towards Karasu, who almost certainly proves the point that Corey is not quite like some others among his kind. "The short answer is, he's an old fool who is too stuck in his ways to realize the world isn't everything he believes it to be." She laughs, but there's no humor to it, "You probably know him, you know... but that's a discussion for another time."
"Anything in here we should smash or disable before we go?" Rune asks, raising and eyebrow and looking towards MAC, perhaps expecting the War Golem to have a better answer, there. "If nothing else, I can jam the door on our way out. I suspect most mages that are this powerful can teleport around, but... at least it will be a minor annoyance."
As for if she can work the other door, the rogue nods, "Can do."
GAME: Rune takes ten on Disable Device+7: (10)+31+7: 48
"Destruction of implements inefficient," the construct responds. "Threat unable to utilize implements after re-incarceration." That is MAC's determination before it exits the workshop. Sabotaging the entrance to it, however, may be a very minor delay.
Jamming the lock is pretty much child's play for Rune. One suspects that any children she has to care for will never be able to enter unauthorized areas. The lab will not be open anytime soon without magical aid or a very large axe.
The door at the end of the hall yields to Rune's tools much the same way, opening into what looks like a library. Whatever was here before, it's been completely cleaned out and repurposed, with simple shelves holding a variety of books. Like most wizards, Urvis is quite the reader -- though it seems he disdains the Crimson Pen.
Of more interest is a spindly-looking bipedal construct that is picking up books one at a time from a stack in a box, and carefully shelving them methodically.
At the sight of the construct picking up books, Corey brightens considerably. He turns to the group and whispers, "Hold on. I know how to deal with bookworms. I have one as a sister."
He walks forward and clears his throat. "Hello! What's your opinion on the burial customs of the Myrrish peoples from five-hundred years ago?"
No. That is not a joke. He's asking it rather genuinely.
One thing that many people don't suspect about Rune, at least at first glance, is an interest in books. The moment they enter, she's already scanning the shelves, though it is unlikely that a wizard of such 'renown' would have the type of titles that normally draw Rune's rapt attention. "Pssh, not a single interesting one. This place could put anyone to sleep." She murmurs, "If we weren't trying to capture the guy, I'd be tempted to sneak in a copy of some Crimson Pen novels, just to spice the place up a bit."
And then, Corey is calling out to the construct and Rune freezes behind him, going quiet to see what his comment brings.
The construct puts the latest book back, before looking at Corey with a single gemstone eye. Then it trundles over to another shelf, pausing to inspect the contents, before pulling out a book. Then the librarian shuffles over to Corey, and politely proffers the book to him.
It's titled, 'Funerary Rites In The Age of Man', authored by Calo Markway of Ecclesia.
MAC-B1G notes the data storage area and the construct collating relevent recordings. It is uncertain of protocols for such units, but it appears that unit-designate Cor'ethil is? So the construct simply observes the interaction for the moment.
GAME: Corey rolls Sense Motive: (18)+18: 36
Corey blinks as he is merely handed the book, but maybe the construct doesn't have the ability to speak. So... He accepts the book and nods. "I appreciate your prompt offering," he replies.
He actually opens up the book and looks at it for a moment. His face sours a little as he looks at it. "This... is exactly the kind of reading that Ansír would like," he remarks. "Dry. She might be miffed that it's not highly specialized, though."
Corey then hands the book back to the construct. "Can you please put this away for me where it belongs?" He smiles. What no one sees under the smile is a man who was yelled at as a young boy by his sister for not putting her books back in the right place.
"Well, that was unremarkable." Rune responds as the construct offers out the book. She looks past Corey, along the shelves, seeming to consider the situation. Then, lowering her voice, she whispers to the Paladin, "You probably would have gotten a better reaction if you put it back in the wrong place." The prospect of upending the perfect order of the shelves is considered for a moment, but the daughter of an Archivist can't quite bring herself to be that chaotic.
"If it doesn't seem to be a threat, we keep going?"
GAME: Corey rolls Perception: (5)+15: 20 GAME: MAC-B1G rolls perception: (13)+15: 28 GAME: Rune rolls perception: (11)+33: 44
The golem takes the volume back, puts it precisely where it was taken from. And then returns to shelving books. Now that you're satisfied there's nothing overtly threatening, you can see three doors -- north, west, and east -- leading out of the library.
On a small end table next to a heavily-stuffed armchair, Rune's eyes land on a heavy tome with a couple of bookmarks tucked into it. Urvis's current reading material?
With one hand, Rune nudges at Corey's side before pointing out the book in question. "We may want to start by checking that out."
Corey hadn't noticed the book at all until Rune pointed it out to him. He gives sort of an embarrassed laugh. "This is why I got into trouble with my sister all the time," he says. "Never could find the book I was supposed to pick up and put away..."
He walks over to the book and... Well, unceremoniously, he opens it.
MAC-B1G notes the points of egress, attempting to evaluate optimal course to target, if only by probability at this moment. That is until Corey moves, which prompts the construct to follow (per current directive) and then shift its attention to the indicated document.
The book is written in the sharp runes of Khazdul, the dwarven tongue. Fortunately, Mac can read it. It appears to be a journal written by none other than Urvis, after he escaped imprisonment. He writes of imprecations involving 'that damned half-elven witch that robbed me of my mind', as well as finding a rumor of a powerful war golem wizard who had been felled.
Learning where the remains of the golem were stored, Urvis traveled here, and used his mastery of magic as well as his knowledge of artifice to restore the wargolem, known as Lancet.
Worried of treachery, Urvis had laid a geas on his compatriot that she would not be able to harm him while they worked. Evidently trust is a very rare commodity between the two...