The Adventures of the Big HELP, Session 34

General Summary

• Having been forbidden by Abbess Cinder entrance to the library of Mother Wonder, The Big HELP plotted how they could sneak in. Petrichor tried to use Druidcraft to create more hallucinogenic mushrooms, but failed and was concerned about what horrible mushroom she may have accidentally created.
• Larka used an older mushroom that Petrichor had successfully created to create a smoke bomb to drug any guards they came across. She offered to make a smoke bomb from the failed mushroom, but Petrichor was scared it may kill someone. Larka was unconcerned by this. Petrichor suggested using her Wild Shape to become a bird and perform reconaissance. Larka took it a step further and wondered if she could scry with her psionic abilities. That was beyond her power, causing Larka to wonder if she could find a location or a mentor (other than King Hespiro) to help her further her powers. Reaching out across Udarich, Larka felt no one else with psionic power other than Hespiro. She did feel the a concentration of psionic powers around a tall mountain as well as a null location in the foothills of the same mountain.
• Larka took some time to read monastery maps to identify points of entry to the Rainbow Coronet Villa. Petrichor and Bigwig staked out the villa in person. Finding a few points of entry, the HELP reunited to come up with a plan. Bigwig, Larka, and Petrichor made their way to the villa while Hest and Helena went to the festival play. Larka used her Psionic Whispers ability to keep a mental link of communication with each of the others. They first considered going down the chimney, but saw smoke pouring out and didn't want to risk the fire. Petrichor thought they had made the mushroom bomb to drug the guards and enter through the front door. Larka instead suggested she teleport with her psychic dagger ability. Bigwig had a spare Arrow of Displacement and agreed. Petrichor, still in the form of an eagle, found a window opened slightly and pointed it out to the others.
• Larka teleported in, opened the window further to make it easier for Petrichor to get in, and hid under a bench. Bigwig and Petrichor made it in and shut the window. Larka peaked her head out from under the bench and suggested they try the nearest door. This room was a waiting room, furnished comfortably. Bigwig and Petrichor decided to search it while Larka tried the next door. Larka found herself in the central hall the abbess uses to speak with her people. She realized she could use her Soulblade Teleportation to sneak up to the second floor balcony that overlooked this room.
• Petrichor caught notice of a painting hanging in the waiting room. It depicted two tieflings playing in the snow. She observed one of the snowflakes was smudged with fingerprints and realized it was a button. Pressing the button, the wall receded into the ground and revealed a treasure room. She notified Larka to not go too far and entered the room after verifying there were no traps. Four treasures sat inside locked and warded display cases. After some deliberation, the HELP decided to leave the treasures alone.
• Mother Wonder's own Diadem of Intellect
• The Sun Blade, a relic owned by the vargar hero Castaway.
• The Rust-colored Bag of Tricks that the Fey Wander, Edwina, had carried.
• The Dwarven Thrower, wielded by the dwarf hero Karsh.

• Larka teleported up to the center of the balcony. The first thing she saw was a green crystal and a wave of light coming towards her. She leaped to the left, out range of the light wave, and realized she was safe there. Letting down a rope, she pulled up Petrichor and Bigwig. There was a room next to where they climbed up but it didn't have much of interest. Larka dug through her bag and realized she had a Wand of Magic Detection. With it, she realized that the crystal was magical, exuded Abjuration magic, and could see the shape of the light wave, realizing that this must be some kind of security detection magic. The party debated how to handle the crystal. Larka suggested teleporting from safe blind spot to blind spot but knew that would be hard for Petrichor and Bigwig.
• Petrichor and Larka thought about using the Wand of Dispell Magic that Zinnia had given them. They weren't sure how to get close enough to cast the spell until Petrichor remembered she had Slippers of Spider Climb. She was able to get close enough to use the wand. The first attempt failed and likely would set off the crystal if the wand hadn't been based on psionic energy. Petrichor successfully dispelled it on the second attempt. Following her use of the psionic wand, Petrichor could feel her mind expand, hear the thoughts of those around her. Larka, still on the lookout for other psions, could feel a spark of that power ignite inside Petrichor. With some time having passed, Larka contacted Hest to figure out how far along the play was. Hest said it had finished Act 1 of a three act play and that the floating ocean city Kynthas had lived on had sunk into the sea when a fiery creature fell from the sky.
• The HELP investigated the west half of the second floor first. Larka and Petrichor entered a room identified as a private library, thinking it was Mother Wonder's library while Bigwig checked out the Hall of Abbots and Abbesses. The first thing Larka and Petrichor found was an enchanted rock and a comfy reading chair. Larka could tell it was imbued with evocation magic and Petrichor thought the rune looked similar to those that appeared when she cast Heat Metal. Larka suggested it might be used for keeping a mug warm. Larka looked at the books while Petrichor investigated other magic items Larka pointed out.
• Bigwig found little of interest in the Hall, mainly art depicting the former rulers of the monastery. She did see an artbook and decided to leaf through it. Before she could, she spotted the rug below her move and leaped out of the way before the Smothering Rug could wrap around her. The rug wasn't much of a threat to Bigwig and she easily dispatched it. She took a moment to read through the sketchbook in a comfy chair, recognizing drawings of Hest, Ravenna, and Gregory. She didn't want to sit in the chair for too long, fearing that it would also attack her also. Spotting a chest, she pulled out her Thieves' Tools and unlocked it. Inside was 2000GP and a note indicating it was for the upkeep of the villa. Bigwig pocketed 400GP and left.
• Petrichor passed over Cinder's personal spellbook and took a look at the crystal ball on her desk. Investigating the runes on its base, she realized that Abbess Cinder used it for scrying and making audio and visual recordings of her notes while reading. Unfortunately, the recording magic had been left on and Petrichor realized the Abbess would know that they had trespassed. Larka was unable to find anything of interest, but did find a note from Mother Wonder to all future abbots and abbesses welcoming them and giving them the cryptic note: "When one needs answers, one must always remember the pool that feeds the tree of knowledge."
• Petrichor started panicking when she couldn't figure out the command word to prevent the orb from recording them. Larka urged her to steal or destroy it. Petrichor figured a scrying focus would be useful and that it was better to steal than destroy the orb. After further searching, they realized this was the private library of current abbess, not Mother Wonder's library. They met up with Bigwig and moved to search the eastern half of the floor. Petrichor peaked into the master bedroom and saw a painting of Sindara with her elk steed, Oak, and Abbess Cinder's pet firewolf.
• The party had not woken up the firewolf. Larka decided to sneak by it to investigate the room, eventually opening a door that led to the abbess's personal bathroom. At the far end was a pool of boiling water with three golden rings, linked and floating on top. Larka wondered if this was the pool the note had mentioned. Each of the golden rings had the letters of an alphabet she didn't recognize on it. She asked Bigwig and Petrichor to take a look. Bigwig cast Comprehend Languages and recognized it as the aarakocran alphabet. Larka suggested spinning the rings to read OAK.
• This suggestion opened the HELP's way to Mother Wonder's library. They felt themselves turn intangible and float up into the sky. As Larka floated up, she saw again that psionic energy was emanating across the continent from the tallest peak. Was it shielding, flooding, influencing? She wasn't sure. The HELP found themselves on a floating rock with bookshelves, somehow both in the material and psionic realms. They were greeted by a translucent pink aarakocra who introduced herself as a memory of Mother Wonder. She was unyielding when the party asked for help finding information, telling them it was only to be accessed by the current abbess or abbot of the Six Tenet Monastery. The echo began to trigger an elemental security measure, saying they could leave with their lives and beg the abbess for forgiveness for trespassing.
• Feeling they came too far to turn back, Petrichor pulled out the wand and tried to dispell the echo. The psionic burst, filled with her urgency and desparation, managed to dispel the echo in a surprising turn. In her last moments, the echo finished triggering the secruity measures and unleashed six elementals to defend the library.

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42 Days after the Crash of the Raziel

Report Date

16 Dec 2024