Sapphire:Sessions:20151010

On the fifth floor of the wizard's tower, a curtain of fire blocks the stairs. 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 what turns out to be 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.

Hidden in the headboard in the master bedroom, Ahn-Lee finds a small chest. Opening it releases a haze that makes him momentarily nauseated. He pours a miz of gold and silver coins, thirty in all, 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.