The Library of Lanthorn: Session 4

 

Shahid and the Halflings went back into the dungeon for another crack at finding and closing the lock. They cautiously descended to the third level of the tomb, where Breadrick scouted ahead in total darkness. He found writing on the wall in the Shrine language of the Djinn Potentates. Shahid determined the substance was Djinn blood, which Roddy harvested to enhance the power of his bombs.

The next chamber was the one where the multidimensional monster spawned previously. With time to investigate, Breadrick found evidence of habitation by several soldiers. He looted their items and lit the brazier in the altar to Shrine of Storms that watched over the room. The light reflected off the Three Monkeys statues of Genies, but not the wall behind them. Breadrick pulled his hood over his face to cover his eyes, mouth and ears. The wall behind the statues slid open, but slid back the second anyone else observed it. The gang decided to explore the rest of the floor before probing this further.

The Halflings squeezed into a collapsed chamber and found a magic sword and a collapsed staircase. The dormitories beyond had stone biers of the type used by the caretakers, a chess set, stacked books, another decoder key, wizard rods, smeared scrolls... Dimensional Shamblers of the type previously encountered kept wandering into the hallway. Breadrick and Roddy kept blowing them up with grenades, which attracted more Shamblers. One of the books was filled with a stream-of-consciousness, like someone was trapped inside and talking to themself. Several books, in fact. 

A stage covered with clean furniture was home to a mimic, which the gang destroyed using grenades and hand weapons. This fake wardrobe yielded a spell scroll, as did the subsequent scroll room. A vortex of air held pages scribbled with more jabbering of the type found in the books. Roddy freed the Water Elemental held in one of his Flasks taken from the summoning table, sending it to clear out the silt-flooded bathhouse in exchange for its freedom. Breadrick used the Flask to capture the spirit animating the pages.

The Water Elemental came under attack from two Dimensional Shamblers. The adventurers intervened with a volley of pistol fire and the Elemental prevailed. The cleaned pool yielded coins. The group took the scrolls and treasure they found upstairs for storage.

Outside the library, a pair of engineers from the Parliamentary Sappers argued over the timeline of the library's demolition. The Dwarf in charge wanted to level the place that day, but Breadrick convinced her to hold off until sundown. After a short rest the adventurers went back down to finish the job. The last room on the floor was a scriptorium, filled with a wealth of magical reagents and ink.

 

 

With no further stalling possible, the adventurers breached the Three Monkeys puzzle. The door behind the three statues was locked. Roddy blasted it open with one of his alchemical charges. The corridor beyond was the one Delgal saw in the crystal ball. A blazing light, a dead body, a scattering of chess pieces. Endless whispers. Riddles and epigrams. The words of the Old King. Breadrick read a scroll of Wizard Lock and the light went out. Roddy collapsed the tunnel with explosives.

With the threat ended, the group investigated the final locked door in the temple on the ground floor. They blasted it open and found a room full of standing skeletons, armored and carrying swords. They said they served the Old King and would help him achieve final victory against the Djinn. Breadrick Turned Undead and told them the Old King was dead. The skeletons were blasted apart, yielding the gold inlay in their armor.

Breadrick spoke to the spirit in the bottle and discovered it was a Genie. He released it immediately - Djinn were assholes but Breadrick would not keep another being as a slave. The free Djinni explained that the door was a portal that emitted pure information, most of which was garbage. The decoder keys were capable of translating the portal's emissions into coherent answers to questions, though this usually killed the postulant. Such was the fate of Captain Wright, the thief who opened the Lock.

Breadrick never found the book he was looking for.