S21. The Quorum House Report

General Summary

The party takes on the Angel while and old man accompanies the little rat back up the steps toward the portcullis to open it for them.   Eethyl engages with his snarky mouth while Keth engages with his booming blade. The angel strikes back with his flaming sword, and with a magical attack that sends lightning down his chains to zot Eethyl, and the gnome warlock's hellish rebuke bites back at the winged creature. Keth and the Angel exchange blows, Keth often dodging harm due to his Protection from Good and Evil spell that keeps Celestials at bay.   The old man opens the portcullis, and the party starts to duck under it, but not before the Angel again sends an explosion of fire that engulfs 3 of them in searing flame. However, they escape into the corridor beyond and down the hall and into the old man's library where he spends a lot of his time. They talk with him and learn:  

1. he has a bad memory
2. he can't remember his name, just that he is called the Keeper
3. he cuts the grass
4. he copies books
5. he can't remember the last time he has eaten
6. the tea was too hot for him
7. they need to find a way out of this place
8. he's been here a long time
9. he answered a job ad and likes his job here pretty good
10. he trims the grass
11. he isn't supposed to leave until another keeper shows up to take over for him
12. he finds something in a book that says one place to go when it's time to leave is the Quorum House.

The party heads off to the Quorum House and finds a puzzle to solve.   They find writing on the wall as they enter.   It is in Sylvan, but Flicker translates for them.         Three by Four And Quorum Of Seven Honored Judges Bound For Heaven Three Unsealed Their Vote Must Cast Remaining Votes Not Least Nor Last Quorum of Judges Must Keep Their Heads Misplaced Votes Shall Raise The Dead   They find markings on the floors around the rows and columns of sarcophagi. Some of them are broken open. They also fund skulls over in the corner; 7 to be exact.     The debate and discuss and finally decide on a course of action, though unsure of the outcome, they make their moves, and place the 7 skulls on certain sarcophagi hoping against hope they don't raise any dead.   After nothing seems to happen, they check the door at the other end of the room and find it opens to reveal a solitary candle within. Flicker lights it, but still worried that there are dangers yet to come, they continue to experiment with the candle to make sure they have properly solved the puzzle. They obviously expected more than a candle as their reward.   Eventually, the Keeper calls down the stairs to them, asking if they got the candle yet or not, since they've been down there so long. When they say that they did, he calls back asking what they are waiting for(?) and to come on back to the library to see what to do next.   A variety of emotions flows, and they head back to the library where the Keeper tells them he read more and discovered that they need the candle from the Quorum House, and then another candle from the Chamber of Seasons, and then they will be ready to leave through the Temple of the Titan.