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Sofia's Diary continued: ...Returning to the conference room, we ate lunch amid the zombies and made a copy of the compass rose. As nearly as we can tell, it is oriented correctly, but it must have some other significance. Our continued explorations after lunch brought us to two more bedrooms adjacent to the one we had already searched, yielding us a few more books and personal papers but nothing of obvious import. Sir Otto wanted to destroy some notes we found on the summoning of demons to oppose the forces of Orus, and made a rather tactless remark about Uncle when I refused to permit this. I fear he does not understand the nature of research very well, but one would think he would understand about personal property! Everything in here belongs to Uncle, and except when immediate danger faces us, we have no right to decide for him what should or should not be preserved. One of the bedrooms had already been emptied, again raising the question: What happened at the end? We next found a series of closets containing large jars filled with such objects as beholder brains, carrion crawler tentacles, etc. There were six beholder brains, which give me considerable respect for the prowess of those who lived here! This hallway ended in an old-fashioned dissection lab, which contained some good-quality instruments, but no books or papers. Further exploration led us to a room which seemed to have subsided into the water table. Though it was only about two feet deep (I cast light onto an olive pit and cast it in), given the filthiness of the water and the unlikelihood of any books or papers surviving in such an environment, we left it unexplored, though we may be able to pump out it and the pool in the other room at some future date. Further down the same hallway we found the seats of necessity, which after all this time did not reek particularly, but which raised certain practical questions in my mind. I suppose the pool might have been a bathing facility, but they seem to have had no steam room, there was only the single necessary room, and we have found no doors leading to what would have been outdoors before time and disaster covered this building with dirt. The people who lived here must have been relatively dirty, as well as wicked; and it is a great shame to think folks so learned and powerful should be so. Returning to the main corridor, we proceeded at last in the direction we should have proceeded at first, for it led us directly to a set of double doors, beautifully carved, with small door to the side. Both Decimus and Sir Otto feeling nervous at the prospect of something coming from behind this door to cut us off, we opened the smaller door first, finding a narrow stair leading upward. When the slave shone the lantern up these stairs, we spied a small skeleton at the top. Decimus and Sir Otto went upstairs to investigate, and found the skeleton of an unfortunate halfling, who had lain there dead and unattended for so long that his flesh and clothing were all rotted away, leaving only an empty bronze knife sheath and a few picks and tools, to which Tamara laid claim. He lay before a grate, which, on inspection, gave onto a balcony over a large room. Decimus cast "light" onto the sheathe (he started to cast it on a bone, but Sir Otto forestalled him - I swear, sometimes I think that boy was raised in a barn, not a shop!) and tossed it into the room. What he saw made him anxious to proceed to the large double doors - books! Tamara unfastened the locks on the cedar doors with some difficulty, and opened them to reveal a second set of doors after only ten feet of hallway. Suspecting that this might be a trap, we used the pitons and hammer to secure the door in the open position while she attempted to unlock the second set. It glowed when she touched it, and Decimus realized that the door was arcanely locked. There is a spell to offset this, but Decimus does not know it. He said that it would still be possible to break the door open, so Sir Otto and Alfredus set to work with the crowbar, inserting it between the leaves of the door at the lock and working it back and forth, hoping to minimize damage to the carving. They did so, and at once two large armored figures attacked them. Tamara hurled one of her darts at them, missed, and hit Decimus, much to her distress (and his!) Glimpsing bone behind the armor, I attempted to turn them; but the spectacle of Tamara stabbing one of her flirts in the back distracted me and I did not funnel the power of Orus properly. Sir Otto attacked with his sword, and Alfredus with the crowbar he had still in hand. Two more armored skeletons appeared out of the darkness. Some of us threw holy water at them. Robyn and Tamara rushed in with their quarterstaff and club, respectively. After Decimus removed the dart from his back and cast "mage armor" on himself, he moved in, and we noticed a flickering light in the room above the melee. Fearing some new source of attack, I took out my crossbow and aimed at the lights; but I did no better than I usually do at hitting things. I must undertake some target practice! By the time the last skeleton fell, the room was fully illuminated. A clever device was keyed to illuminate the room whenever a wizard entered. An eminently practical arrangement especially for a library, as it provided constant light to all parts of the room, including between the stacks, which are so difficult to arrange so that light falls onto all of the books. The grate we had seen before led onto a mezzanine, possibly a lecture platform. One portion of the immense room was classroom or lecture hall, and the rest was stack after stack of books. Decimus and I immediately began examining the holdings. There was no central catalog, but the end of each stack was marked with the title and location of each book supposed to be contained upon it, which will make our job much easier, if the villa's librarian was at all conscientious about re-shelving. Most of the tomes were in Leagual. I was startled out of my examination of the shelves by a thunderclap and a smell of ozone. Tamara had unlocked a door at the end of the room, narrowly escaping being struck by a magical lightning bolt in the process. Beyond was a series of study carrels and special-interest rooms, containing spell books, personal research journals, and some extremely esoteric works of great value. We retreated for the day when Robyn opened a secret door and was caught in a sheet of flame. Healing him left me with only my "magic weapon" spell and no scrolls; Sir Otto, Robyn, and Decimus were all wounded; and we knew that great peril and the Skull of St. Vibius still awaited us somewhere in the complex. We sent the wounded home with a wagon full of books and jars, and Tamara, Alfredus, and I have joined the guards at their camp. I have had time to make another Cure Light Wounds scroll and on the whole am satisfied with this day's work, but very tired! Tamara is down in the dumps over wounding Decimus still. I will try to summon enough energy to ask her to help me with my marksmanship. I hope it may distract her. 3/15 - The night passed peacefully and the wounded returned, fresh and healthy, with more wagons. Decimus reported Uncle pleased with our success, but dismayed at the size of the library. He has not room for it at the villa, and is reluctant to make this complex an extension of the villa by installing a permanent teleport. However, that is a problem for him to work out at leisure. Despite the damaging trap, the secret door led only to places we had seen before, so there remained nothing (until we work out a reasonable method for exploring the mirrors and draining the drowned room) save to lower ourselves through the compass rose to the dungeon of the complex. Though we had the lantern bearer to operate the switch, we thought it would be as well not to commit the entire staff to the enterprise unless we had a way to raise ourselves in case something should disable him from his duty, or prevent our signaling that we wished to be raised; therefore, Sir Otto and Tamara went down with the lantern while the rest waited by torchlight. The platform lowered them approximately 30 feet. Though Tamara conscientiously sought a switch at the bottom, Sir Otto was at once distracted by the sight of a skeleton chained to the wall. Filled with the mystic knowledge that this was, not merely the skull but the entire mortal remains of Blessed Vibius, he proceeded directly toward it, only to be confronted by two shadowy figures, whose touch drained him of his strength. Prudently retreating to the platform, he and Tamara called to be lifted up, but the figures flew with them, striving to attack Sir Otto. He and Tamara strove to strike back, but their weapons passed harmlessly through. I attempted to drive them away with the power of Orus as soon as they came into view, but they were too strong for me. Realizing that this was the time of which Orus had warned me, Decimus enchanted Sir Otto's sword, and I enchanted Robyn's quarterstaff, with which he can strike much more quickly and often than the rest of us can strike with our own weapons. The shadows concentrated their attacks on Sir Otto, who grew feeble before our eyes as they struck him directly through his armor. Decimus succeeded in touching him to give him mage armor, and I blessed the combatants hastily, while the rest of the holy water with which Fr. Salvius had provided us was splashed about with wild abandon. At last, the foul creatures were defeated and melted away with plaintive cries. Though he bore no open wounds, Sir Otto was greatly enfeebled; yet he insisted on returning to collect the sacred bones with his own hands. Since the enchantment would only remain upon the weapons for a short time and we did not know what else might be lurking, we decided that we must proceed promptly. Leaving Tamara to guard the lantern bearer and switch, we lowered ourselves once more, Alfredus bearing Sir Otto's sword and Robyn vigilant with his quarterstaff. Fortunately, nothing more assailed us. The bones of the saint bore the clear marks of the tortures inflicted upon him by the infidels, and his manacles were enchanted with alteration spells. In an effort to keep from triggering this magic, Alfredus chipped them out of the wall with the pickax. Alas, as soon as we loosened one wrist from the wall, the entire arm and half the ribcage turned to dust! We collected this dust as best we could (NB add a whisk broom and pan to the supply list), and asked Sir Otto whether we should proceed, or consult Uncle about negating the spell on the manacles. He thought it more urgent to remove the saint's bones from this vile place than to remove them whole, so Alfredus pried the remaining manacles loose while Sir Otto held the skull. The skull did not crumble, and is now safely wrapped in silk and stored in the reliquary Sir Otto brought with him, along with the dust in a box. Robyn, Alfredus, Decimus, and Tamara have remained at the site, to guard it and proceed with the cataloging of books and the copying of the map. I have had a delightful bath and assisted in the rituals celebrating the rescue of the saint's bones. Uncle is in a jolly mood and hints that we will all have a pleasant surprise soon. Tomorrow I am going to get the apothecary to teach me the basics of brewing potions. I would feel much better if everyone were not so dependent on me to heal them when they are injured. If I can ensure that everyone in the group has a vial of healing potion, as well as having a stock of scrolls, it would be a great relief to my mind. Fr. Salvius says that Sir Otto's strength will return normally soon, though he should rest a few days before he begins his journey. There is a spell which will hasten the process. When I pray tomorrow, I will petition Orus to grant me the power to cast it. All things seem possible tonight.
Last Updated:
Saturday, 26-Apr-2003 21:26:06 CDT
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