GoSR-Session 7: To the Tower

Grey finished his discussion of the forests of Agridor with Krag,
After going about town and gathering information, the party reconnoitered at the Wicker goat to get a good night's sleep and to discuss their next move. After mulling over their options they decided it would be best to solve the mystery of the wizard Keledeck and the tower of Zenopus once and for all. They also invested in buying a proper safe from the OTC office, equipped with a silent alarm and a restraining trap to safeguard their valuables.
The next day they rose early to prepare their supplies and ship. As the Safe was being installed aboard the Sea Ghost, they took some time to recruit some help. With a tip from Ingo the Drover, they met with an impressive lizardfolk Cleric named Valignis.
Valignis was a cleric of Bryn, a fire deity from the Embershard archipelago far to the west. After some negotiation of terms, Valignis agrees that the dire rumors surround the Tower of Zenopus were worth investigating, and she agreed to join the party for three days on this venture.
Setting out in the early hours it was short, but rainy journey along the coast westward before they saw the landmark they were looking for. The shattered remnants of a stone tower, standing upon a high sea cliff.
Unable to find a spot to make landing, they were forced to take the ship another mile west before they found suitable old pier. Mooring here, the party departed and climbed the narrow switchback up to the overgrown coast road.
Trekking east back toward the tower, the rain continually worsened, and the sound of thunder in the distance steadily grew louder. As they passed through a dense copes of tress covering the road, they came to a wide clearing. At it center stood an ancient and gnarled deadwood tree, dark knotholes and fissures marring its once majestic trunk. As they passed it by, the air was cleft with a blinding flash and a deafening roar, as a mighty bolt of lightning struck the old tree, blasting it apart in a shower of jagged splinters.
All were knocked off their feet by the powerful blast. Grey and Valignis both stinging from vicious shard of wood suddenly embedded in their skin. And as the party groan and tried to reorient themselves, a great dark and screeching mass billowed out from the bole of the the sundered tree.
A great swarm of terrified stirges came hurtling out of their now destroyed nest. Pained by the blinding light and driven into a frenzy by the noise, most scattered in a chaotic cloud in all directions, but some swooped down to attack the disoriented adventurer's.
Rallying themselves the party banded together, guarding each other's backs from the bloodsucking vermin. They made short work of the hostile creatures, and the rest of the swarm quickly dispersed. Catching heir breath and scanning the area, Grey recalled that Jilar Kanklesten, the carpenters' guild master had been searching for lightning struck wood, and would pay a good price for the shattered tree.
Moving on they soon came to the tower. As they cautiously moved up the hill towards the last remaining circle of stones that marked where the tower once stood, they heard a grumbling voice and discordant whistling cutting through the howling wind. Tired of getting soaked by the downpour they pushed inside through a roughly repaired door, and found themselves in the patchily waterproofed first floor of the tower ruins. Damp and cluttered with arcane devices, this makeshift research camp was the current abode of the wizard Keledek. The man himself stooped over a large fossil near one side, and turned to stare at the drenched adventurers.
In a stilted, nasally voice the impossible tall, hunched man greeted the party affably and offered them his fire to rest and dry themselves. As they moved about the room warily, the wizard went on talking in a rapid, chaotic manner. Asking them what they had come for, who they were, what they wanted. Barely giving them time to respond the wizard seemed to twitch with manic excitement as he asked if they would be interested in making a lot of money.
Intrigued but suspicious they asked what the wizard was on about, trying to read into his speech and mannerisms to detect any falsehoods. Keledek eagerly told them of a sealed vault, deep underneath the tower that he claimed contained untold riches and treasure. He offered it all to them if they could get into the vault and retrieve a single item for him, an old bronze mask showing the visage of a elf. The party sensed the the wizard wasn't telling them everything, so they pushed for more information.
Relenting, Keledek told them that he was very close to the ultimate goal of his research, the ultimate transmutation spell, transforming himself into a dragon. He also admitted that there might be a group of angry smugglers hold up down in the sea-caves below that he owed quite a bit of money too. When Grey mentioned the curse on Silver, Keledek immediately saw the source of the curse and rightly identified it. He agreed that if they gained the mask, He would break the curse on Silver.
They party was still wary, but Grey was desperate to cure his brother, so they hesitantly agreed to venture into the ruins below. To guide them down, Keledek summoned his familiar, an imp named Munk. Munk gleefully lead them outside and around the base of the tower to a set of stairs leading down into a dark passage. As they moved below the tower they came to a vast and darkend virticle well. Lighting torches for Molly and Grey's benefit they saw the the chamber was a vast hole, 80 feet across and over a hundred feet down. The imp cackled as he guided them onto a makeshift suspension lift. Grinning the imp began to strain his wiry muscles, and suddenly grow in size. His once puny arms growing to monstrous size, he gripped the handles of the lift's winch and began to lower the party down the well, picking up speed as they went. The imp laughed madly as they hurtled toward the cold stone floor below. As the stones of the nearby wall rushed past, Bowbow caught one oddly shaped stone, slightly depressed that stood out from the surrounding perfectly cut masonry.
Just as they were about to crash upon the floor below, Munk gave a roar and wrenched the winch to a screeching halt, giggling as the party jumped off shakily. As the looked around the broad, circular room at the base fo the well. Munk asked for a password to signal their successful return. Bowbow decided the password would be "Pickles", with that the freakish imp began wrenching the lift back up the well, leaving the party to their fates in the dark.