The Ruined Library
Scenes from the past
Early in the history of the City, humans were accorded the same status as other lesser races, and one house, House Darakmon, was charged with managing them. Darakmon built a library to store human-related information. As the dangers of humans became more and more apparent, Darakmon became more secretive and guarded their library more jealously. Finally, 430 years ago, they caused a spell of forgetting to be cast on the library, so that people gradually forgot where it was located. When House Darakmon was wiped out seventy years later, the location of their secret library was lost.
Recently, an old manuscript has been discovered indicating that the library's location might be findable. This might one day be of minor use, so the family have decided to send some minor members out to see what they can find. The goals are:
- Find the library location
- Get inside
- Explore at least a few rooms and see if there is anything valuable there
Encounter 1: The Sewers
(600xp)
Skill Challenge: Complexity 3 (8/4)
Primary skills: Dungoneering, Endurance, History, Perception, Athletics, Streetwise
Following are the tyes of primary check needed to negotiate the sewers. failure means that it is harder to find a safe way through and the party is pushed into ever more dangerous routes. If not specified, each option can be taken only once.
- Dungoneering: (DC 15) You safely navigate tricky sections of sewer (2 sucesses maximum). If the cracked floor has been found, then (DC 17) you successfully create a safe path downward.
- Endurance: (DC 15) The best way to go lies across a strong current. You help the others pass it safely. (DC 13) A stream is contaminated by posions flowing from above. You shield the others from the effects (sucess: save vs. Blinding fever. Fail, and everyone must save)
- History: (DC 15) At a fork, you know which way cannot be the right way, so you pick a better direction to head (2 successes). (DC 12) When 5+ successes have been achieved, you find the crack in the floor!
- Perception: (DC 15) When 1-5 success have been achieved, you know the right way to go (once). (DC 12) When 6+ successes have been achieved, you see the crack on the floor.
- Athletics: (DC 15) You force open a blocked passage (3 times)
- Streetwise: (DC 17) From what you recall of the streets above you, you can work out which way you should go (2 times)
Encounter 2: The Door
(350xp)
Trap: Magic Crossbow Turret
Creatures: 2 Stirges
The area around the door is trapped. There are four trigger spaces to be found. If anyone lands on them, the turrets attack. The stirges don't know what causes the turrets, but if the turrets appear, they hid in cracks in the ceiling if possible.
The library has stone walls, coverd in wood paneling that is cracked and broken in places. Rivulets of water run down though it. It smells musty an old. Most books are bound in leather or in scroll cases, and are in good shape, but those not so proteted are ruined.
Encounter 3: Antechamber
(525xp)
Creatures: 3 or 4 Phantom Warriors
This area (passage and room) is slippery. A DC 10 Acrobatics check is needed each round. Failure by 1-4 means no pregression, 5+ and you fall prone. When you enter the main area, three phantom warriors shout "intruders" and charge through the walls of the guard room to attack.
I am black with the blood of a squid.
A brain inside me is hid.
Children and old men love me.
Fire is my deadly enemy.
Like an animal, I have a spine
Like a tree, I have leaves.
Open me and drink knowledge.
Close me, and I keep yours safe.
What am I?
One round later, Kerrick -- another phantom warrior -- charges out from the study. It will take an insight check (DC 13) to realize he is not really interested in attacking. If not attacked (he will provoke an opportunity attack) he will ask the following riddle (in the middle of combat). If attacked, he will attack back, if left alone, he will do nothing. If the riddle is answered correctly, he will join with you (he recites the lines in pairs, one pair every round), although he cannot move outside these two rooms.
If Kerrick is made friendly, he can tell you the history of the place. He was the chief guard and the others were sub-guards. All were murdered in their sleep by another Tiefling house, House Aglomel, and they live only for vengence. Unlike his brethren, Kerrick has kept his mind somewhat intact and can distinguish betwen intruders. He can also warn them friends about the Gelatinous cube in the next room.
Searching the office finds mainly administrational items, including the head librarian's personal journal.
Encounter 4: The First Room
(400xp)
Creatures: Gelatinous Cube
The cube in this room has cleaned out everything in the bottom 8' of the room; all shelves have had their contents eaten off, the floor is clean, the wood panels on the walls are no more. It is an easy (DC 12) Dungeoneering check to figure out that some sort of ooze has been prowling here.
Once in the room, characters can stay out of its reach by jumping on the book shelves (which are stone) with a DC 15 Athletics check. They can jump between them to get better views of the ooze, which will not just sit and be peppered with arrows/magic, with a DC 15 Acrobatics check. The ooze will move around below, forcing characters to jump between shelves. It will hope one will fall, so it can attack!
Searching this area reveals several interesting books on human lore, including "Humans and Iron Magic", "The Secrets of Humanity's power", "19 Valuable uses for human organs", and "Human Anatomy, with practical combat applications". The doors at the far end are buckled and a weight of earth is behind them. Clearly some serious excavation is called for.
Encounter 5: Hiring some diggers
(400xp)
Skill Challenge: Complexity 4 (10/5)
Primary skills: Bluff, Healing, Streetwise, Insight, Intimidate
The House of Ekkaral is the source for all well-trained silver-torc servants. They have a sales hall complex in the market area of the city where individual trainers bring candidates. The servants there are highly moivated as being employed by a major house gives them protection and a chance to advance to become a gold-torc. They will therefore compete and do pretty much anything to present themselves as valuable candidates.
The sales room is near the surface, slightly cool for Tieflings, and uncomfortably warm for everyone else. There, gold-torc servants will seat the players, bring them sherbert, wine and other drinks, masseurs, dancers and a variety of other minor entertainment. In about half an hourglass, a set of seven dwarves are brought out. The players will need to hire three to make a team, and choose one to be the team leader. The dwarves are as follows:
- Torek, a young, gangly, enthusiastic male dwarf. Hits 25, Skill 4.
- Gnarth, a old, grumpy dwarf with a big scar from a fight. Hits 15, Skill 7, but if not in charge, he will have skill zero, as he really wants to be in charge.
- Beorth, an old, resigned female. Hits 15, Skill 6.
- Borran, a charmismatic middle-aged male. Hits 20, Skill 4, but if made leader, will be effectively 9 as he increases team effectiveness.
- Akra, a young female desperately in love with Torek. Hits 25, Skill 12 if working with Torek, 2 otherwise.
- Deagor, a very old male dwarf who talks himself up very well. Hits 10, Skill 2.
- Karn, a very old male dwarf who despises Deagor. Hits 10, Skill 8 if not working with him, 4 if he is.
- Dungeoneering: Rolled secretly to discover skill ability. Success gives the best possible skill they have. If they fail, then the difference between the roll and 15 is tha mount they are off by, with negative dice rolls meaning low, positive high. So if the roll is '3' for a total of 10, then the estimate will be low (the '3') by 5 points (15-10).
- Bluff: Enthusiastically describing the job, talking up your team, or whatever, gets a dwarf to volunteer information on another dwarf. If they don't have a preferred target to give info on, pick one randomly.
- Healing: Torek is not really in control of his body well. Deagor has never worked hard. Karn seems very fit for an old guy. Akra is in good shape, but appears to be distracted by something.
- Streetwise: Gnarth likes to be the boss. He'd be good at it. Borran is prime leader material, probably useless if not leader though. Beorth is a solid worker. Nothing will changer her work ability.
- Insight: Gnarth and Borran want to be leaders. (DC 5) Akra is in love with Torek. Deagor is more talk than action. Karn despises Deagor. Beorth doen't care about anything.
- Intimidate: Torek cries. Gnarth argues that he should be leader or he won't work at all (making the dealers unhappy!). Beorth just does whatver she is told. Borran kow-tows and appears very willign to be lead. Akra bursts into tears and declares that if Torek is with her she will work night and day, as hard as she can, to do watever her employers want. Deagor will admit he is useless. Karn will denouce Deagor.
Encounter 6: Ambush
(425xp)
Creatures: Gang of thugs
Humans: 2 Soldiers, 1 bandit
A rival House has decided to take some low-level action against the player's house. Rather than directly attack members of the House, which might start a serious war, they just want them to lose face. They have therefore decided to stage a public attack on them, killing all their servants and showing that their rivals cannot defend their property. When their spies at the servant's service spot the players there, they prepare a strike force they have previosuly hired (anonymously). The players get a DC 25 perception check to notice a signal being given as they cross a street, and then the fight is on.
Tactics: The soldiers will charge in and suck in the party. Then the skirmisher will attack the dwarves and try and kill them. As soon as anyone is bloodied, the soldiers will switch to non-lethal attacks on that person. If all three dwarves are killed, or if two are killed and the fight looks dangerous, they will all withdraw. To follow them in the town takes DC 15 streetwise checks. With a success, you can follow and attack one target. With a failure, you lose all of them. Once reduced to zero hits, a dwarf will die at -10, so the attackers will keep on attacking a downed dwarf.
Interlude 7: Excavation
Introductions to Kerrik
The dwarves will be generally unhappy to have a ghost wandering nearby them and will need Diplomacy (or possibly Bluff) checks to make them feel better about it. DC 15 will do the trick. With a DC 25 success not only will they be comfortable, but they will listen to Kerrick's advice about where to dig, giving them a +5. The dwarves can start digging. Take their total skill (add all three, with a +5 if they listen to Kerrick. The following results:- 1-10: The rooom collapses, killing all the dwarves and destroying the contents. Total failure results.
- 11-15: A rock slide kills one dwarf and injures another. A healing check at DC 15 saves the ijured dwarf's life
- 16-20: An injured dwarf. DC 12 Healing or he will be unable to work any more
- 21-25: No progress
- 26-30: Success! But a dwarf is injured. DC 15 heal check or death results.
- 31-35: Complete success.
- 36-99: Absolute success. As well as uncovering the shelves, the team works so well together they discover a hidden compartment with a strange medallion in it that seems magical.
Information from the dwarves:
- There is a middle, a left and a right shelf.
- A symbol is on each shelf.
- The left symbol was a winged creature.
- The middle symbol is mostly effaced (a later perception DC10 can only say it is not an owl)
- The right symbol had big eyes to see in the dark (A later nature check DC10 means fox or owl)
Information from Kerrik:
- Lord Rufus, Kerrick and the head librarian had collections on shelves. Lord Rufus's had all the really valuable books.
- The symbols were an owl, a fox and a vulture.
- Lord Rufus always used to complain that he couldn't walk straight in, he had to turn to get to his shelf (so not the middle one).
- "I remember my shelf was not an owl"
Information from reading head librarian's journal:
- "I am pleased my books have a clever creature guarding their shelf, not a stupid one"
- "I wish I had the right shelf, the light is so much better there"
- "Lord Rufus should have taken the fox, after all that is what his name means, but no, he wanted something different"
If the players choose correctly, then when excavating further they come across Lord Rufus's private collection. All the books have been torn to pieces, except for one, which has a complex lock on it and strange symbols that sort of look like clawed animals. If any players (whose characters are NOT picking the lock) declare themselves to be watching the symbols or otherwise wary of them, they will not be surprised if the symbols are released in the following encounter.
Encounter 8: Trapped Book
(700xp)
Skill Challenge: Complexity 2 (6/3)
Poison level 5: Stormclaw Scorpion poison
Creatures level 1: 12 Bookrippers (use Giant rats)
The book is trapped requiring Thievery and Perception checks. On 1 failure, the bookrippers are released -- the symbls flow off the book's cover. Four attack the first round, then another four the next round, then the final four. When released, the bookrippers first attack the opener (as a group), then they attack a person at random (again as a group). They are ratlike creatures with claws that tear at anything near them. On a third failure, the poison strikes.
Resolution: The Secrets of the Darakmon Research into Humanity
This (actually unnamed) book is a collection of reports by Lord Rufus on House Darakmon's investigation and experimantation into the magical affinity between humanity and iron-like metals. Possessing the book gives a +5 bonus on any attempt to use Arcane skills with respect to magical effects that are specific to humanity. It details how humans have a particular affinity (or pehaps resistance?) to Iron and ferrous metals, allowing them to wield more powerful iron magics than other races. It describes three main areas in which research into human/iron affinities should be pursued:
- Building iron constructs using Eladrin and fey magics, executed by dwarven master-smiths. These constructs would have fey minds bound into the iron to animate them, and use humans as interfaces to control and also to interface between the iron-bound fey and the construct's masters.
- Binding human souls into forged iron to create intelligent fey-killing weapons, that could be used to establish a foothold into the Feywild.
- Ritual magics that only humans could use that would use focii of amalgums of gold, silver, and iron. The resulting magics would allow mental control of others, especially fey races.