Sapphire:Sessions:20151010
On the fifth floor of the wizard's tower, a curtain of fire blocks the stairs leading down. Chalker first-aids the injured Barak.
Shawna locates the jasper death icon. Though it is melted, deformed, and inert, she smashes it to dust for good measure.
Ahn-Lee: "Want to see if he's got any cool stuff?" Chalker: "Sure." Followed by Yasser, they take the stairs to the roof, where they find an observatory. The telescope and astrolabe are very finely crafted. In the center of the room is a sphere four feet in diameter that seems to be made of crystal.
On a worktable rests an exquisite jeweled mask. Ahn-Lee: "What do you think it's worth?" Yasser: "Put it on!" Shawna and Branamin come upstairs; Shawna looks around delightedly at the observatory. Shawna tries on the mask, then hands it to Branamin. The mask is magical, set with two powerstones, and conforms to fit over its wearer's eyes.
Branamin finds on one shelf a nearly-complete encyclopedia of magic spells in six volumes.
Soon bored, Ahn-Lee goes downstairs, asking Yasser, "What's the most expensive stuff we can carry with us?"
Yasser turns up a gilded, rune-inscribed goat skull and instantly becomes enthralled with it. Seizing a gnarled oak staff, he jams the goat skull atop it, and declares himself a follower of the Goat God.
Ahn-Lee finds a small chest hidden in the headboard in the master bedroom. Opening it releases a haze that makes him momentarily nauseated. He pours a mix of gold and silver coins, thirty in all, from the chest into a pouch.
In an arm of a thronelike chair Chalker and Branamin find a vial containing a smoky amber potion.
Shawna skims through various papers and correspondence. One paper indicates that the previous owner of the tower was someone named Octavius. Suddenly her eyes widen and she bounds all the way downstairs to the basement. Branamin and Chalker are curious enough to follow. She stops before a locked door and asks Chalker to pick the lock. Beyond the door are four more closed doors and a short hallway that opens into a large room. Chalker and Branamin proceed that direction while Shawna locates a set of keys and unlocks the doors. The first two cells are empty, but in the third is a stately woman, a young girl about eight years old, and a boy of about thirteen. The woman is Countess Helen Prensley. In the fourth cell are Baron Paul Glade along with a woman and a fifteen-year-old girl.
Baron Glade has been captive for at least three months. He believes someone on the outside must be impersonating him, as there have been no ransom demands or attempts to free him. "Then why haven't you been killed?" asks Shawna, and the Baron admits he has no explanation.
Chalker checks the captives' auras. The fifteen-year-old girl is devout to Eupho (beauty).
The group secures the tower as best they can and ride to the Baron's keep in Gladedell. Captain Aaron Key, the leader of the keep's guards, is roused from sleep to meet with them. He believes that the Baron is in Tyborough (the village at the foot of the mage tower), but is soon convinced of the truth, that he has been serving an impostor.
Shawna summons three pigeons to take a message from Countess Prensley to her husband. When they return some time later, two of the pigeons bear the message that the Count is taking action against those who had used his family's captivity as leverage against him.
The second-in-command of the Baron's household is found to have several spells and various "hooks". Branamin casts Scryguard on the man, who will be locked in a cell for his protection while Branamin works on dismantling the spells. Later on, Branamin finds that the spells include Spy, Control, and a disguise spell to make the man look like the Baron. Branamin dispells all three.
Yasser dreams of a goatherd seated on the grass, smiling up at him. Yasser asks him, "Do you believe in the Goat Lord?" The boy replies, "Yasser Lalo, you are willing. Analyze carefully and you will prosper." The Goat Lord is one of the Second Chosen. [Bill: "Greatest Of All Time -- G.O.A.T.]
Shawna receives a message that Yasseph is "very pleased" with her. She is granted one boon, and she speaks, "Let the conflict end."
It is the morning of Feast Time 13, and all are well-rested.