As you make your way across town you notice that the plague itself seems to be getting worse. On the road to the library which was not as bad yesterday is flooded with people on the streets with sickness. All of the library staff are running around trying to take care of what they can be they are overwhelmed by the shear number of people.

As you walk into the library you see Elysia in the middle of piles of books, almost seemingly where you left her a day ago. She looks worn out by all the people coming to the library for help. People running around seem to be make shift herbalist who are trying to sooth people's pains.

Aeress didn't know their contact here, so she let one of the others do introdutions.  However she observed the crowds and conditions with considerable interest.  This seemed like an ominous situation that was getting worse.

Lirian looked at Elysia. She seemed tired, as if she had spent all night in the same place, trying to find a solution. “Would she had slept this night?” she wondered, concerned Elysia could be obertaxing herself. Then she approached her.

“Good morning, Elysia” she said. “Any advance in your investigations? Have you had any sleep this night?” She then introduced Aeress to her and resumed her their raid to the cultists base and what they had found that morning in the shop. “I hope the loss of their base in the grove may slow their plans, but for the people I saw outside, I guess we need more…”

She produced one of the pendants. “Do you know what this symbol means?” she asked. “Some of the cultists wore them, and it was also present in the shop…

Quentin would be more able to tell you about what kind of magic they seem to be using, as this falls under his specialty”

As if we play all in conversational way it can become eternal, though we can do if you like and would be more RPG way, here I list you the points Lirian intends to do at the library:

• Know something about the symbol in the pendant, as said.
• Know who Lord Blackpaw could be
• Research about Music Magic to learn more (taking an advance learning more spells)
• Show Elysia both books, the one found at the shop, to see if it helps her in any way, and the Tomb, hoping she knows a way to unlock it
• Ask Elysia a letter of introduction to some trusted high officer in the King’s Guard (or the city Guard if not possible the King’s)
• Recover her lute ;)

I think that’s all for now, but maybe something else will arise…
This message was last edited by the player at 10:01, Wed 06 Dec 2023.

Elysia looks at Lirian and the crew with warming eyes.

"My oh my. More of you now? Hopefully, your adventures have turned up some more information.", she says.

She looks at the pendant Lirian provides to her. "Oh very interesting."

She walks around the counter where books are piled to the ceiling and goes down the way looking for a book and manages to find it quickly. She thumbs through the pages and finds the symbol and puts the book firmly on the counter.

"Ah. Yes! I do know this symbol. It's that of Teknos, The artificer. Interesting though. Teknos was a demi-god not a full god who was cast out and destroyed by the other gods. He tended to favor that of technology which has been a constant flux of frustration to our more magically inclined persons since technology tends to dampen their spirit. Where did you come across this?"

“It was born by the two magic using cultists, as well as by the shopkeeper in the book shop where they were abducted” Lirian answered.“It’s strange that they could disfavor magic, though, as they sued it against Hunter and to fight us…

And just because it favored technology over magic and faith that does not make this God evil, does it? ”

"I am not sure I can say anything useful about their magic, only that it seems to require a constant influx of raw ingredients, which might be a weakness of sorts. We got our hands onto two bits of processed substances and one has grown a rat extremely fast, like, way out of the league of any biological growing. I still have the live subject and might see if I gan put it to some good use. The other bit... not sure if it does anything, but check with me again some time tomorrow. At least, it looks like it should be a constructed cure about the disease. If we are to have a reciepe, and if it is to work, that would be extremely useful for the situation at hand."

That basically it about useful research, so Quentin proceeds with trying to get some good out of the library if we are here after all.

"I'd want some texts on that Arcane Covenant: history, locations... the one you have provided us turned out to be good ...then how it went with king's guards. That is for someone to read. And I would like some texts for me to read, about their research, particularly in various substances. That kind of stuff was around the last time, in some shape or form, was it not?"

“Research is more your field than mine…” Lirian said to Quentin. “Maybe this book may help, though ” she added, handing Quentin the book about Stromharbor history she had taken from the shop. “It seems to be of the shopkeeper interest, so it may be of ours too…”

Then she turned to Elysisa. “And do you know any way to unlock this one? Someone considered it important enough as to lock it and set up magic protection. My fingers nibbled with cold when I tried to… And I’d like to consult books about magic, trying to improve my magic capacities. Magic is in music, but one must learn to harness it…”

OOC: unless any other curse of action is needed, while Quentin researches on books Lirian will study magic effects, so that she can take an improvement as more spells

Aeress considered this all carefully.  The others clearly knew more about the actual subject, but Aeress had her own insights.  Granted, they may or may not be useful insights, but she had them.

"Did Teknos have a cult, despite his status?"  Aeress asked, genuinely intrigued.  Typically divine figures, however minor, inspired a line of lords, or institutions... or secret societies.

Elysia, turned to Aeress, "I wouldn't say he had a cult but he did have a following. Basically there are two fields of thought for Teknos. That technology will eventually win over magic and that magic is holding back more advanced technology. Teknos as you might expect had an extreme hate for all things magic. But the rumor is before the gods themselves raised up against him, he was seeking to harness magic and technology. Apparently he wanted to become the ultimate god of both which lead to the other gods banishing him forever. History gets a little tricky after that point."

She sees Aeress drop the book on the counter. She gently touches the tomb and hair on her arms stands-up. "Oh my. That my dear is an ancient tomb. Even the more mundane of us can feel its power but that one feels dark. It feels dangerous. I do have a section specifically that may help you identify the cover and give you more insight.". Elysia points Lirian to the proper direction.

Elysia turns to Quentin and listens carefully as Lirian hands over the Stormhabor History. "None better than that to give you insight into the Arcane Covenant. Just keep in mind, sadly most of their secrets where lost. So I doubt you are going to find specific information but I think most of the general information will be in that text. It's very well known."

OOC: So here's how this works. There's downtime but there is also some challenges here. Obviously you guys want information. Anyone who is in the library can seek out information but the less skilled characters don't need books, keep that in mind. ;)

Make an appropriate roll against whatever you are reading. For Kai & Aeress you can decide what you want to do.

Pick one question, the question will be assigned a TN depending on how hard it is to get the information. If you succeed, you get that question answered. If you succeed with a raise you get that question plus another question you ask answered.

Quentin is not terribly encouraged by being handed a generic local history book. He passes the time while Lirian is busy by flipping its pages looking for any mentions of any substances used by the covenant the last time around. He totally intends to read all the details about those that would fit into a genetic history book, but we have what we have. As he flips through the pages, he also talks a bit to Elysia.

"Anything changed about the rats' tactics or numbers since two days ago? Or do you always have that many patients here in the mornings? The guards have said a team used one sewer entrance nearby, which ended badly as usual. Anything there to know about either the entrance or the case? I know they weren't reporting to you, but since they ended up not reporting to anyone, maybe something became known since then?"

20:01, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 2,4,5 using 1d4,1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,4,5.  Research OR Alchemy for any references of any substances used the last time.

After looking some books about magic and songs, Lirian went on the direction Elysia had told her to try to find something about the Tomb. She began looking for the books where she could find information

20:37, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 3,1 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,1.  Trying to find info about the Tomb. Knowledge or Research (-2 if the latter).

After a while, she felt frustrated that she would not find anything there and returned with the rest to see what about them

Feeling as useful as nipples on a boar, Kai decides to wander the library to see if there's anything else of interest.  At worst, he could spend the time scaring children out of the Arcane Arts section.

In reply to Elysia Silverthorn (msg # 9):

"That's fascinating.  Before we fell on bad times my House used to sponsor many sages."  Aeress sighed.  "It's impressive you've amassed such knowledge.  And so pretty too.  Life is truly unfair."

For her action, Aeress wants to charm/sway/flirt with/anything to impress the librarian to get her to help Lirian's Research roll.  The Librarians can always find the good stuff.  Think of it as a support roll.

20:30, Today: Aeress Veles rolled 9,3 using d6+1,d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of (6+2)8,2.  Persuasion.

That might even be a +2!

"Lirian is so intrepid, but she's not like you.  I bet you could do it easily.  But I don't mean to insult anyone, I mean I wouldn't even have the first clue how to research such a difficult topic, my tutors were always ashamed of me.  You have pretty nails, do you do that yourself?"

Elysia blushes at the advances. "Well I could possibly point her in the right direction." Elysia tips off Lirian that the section she is in was more based upon the arcane arts and less of demonic or god-like tombs. She suggest the row over.

Lirian finds a specific books dealing with gods and demonic history. As she dives into the book she doesn't find anything that specifically tells you or references the tomb but she does find something. On the outside of the book there is a slight marking that is referenced inside of the book. As you dig further you find that the markings match something of the one of the gods and are shocked to learn it's the god of death, Morcalus. Suddenly from the magic-side this makes more sense, the book upon tampering burns like life is draining from your fingers. What could possibly be in this tomb and what would unlock it?

Quentin manages to research a little more information about the occultist. Upon doing his research he finds out that a majority of the occultist are followers of the goddess, Nyxara which is specifically the god of darkness and deception. From what you gather much of their "power" isn't power at all but more bullying people into submission. As a matter of fact you learn that they never really recorded ever using magic. Still their aggressive tactics landed them in trouble with the kings guards and were forced into hiding. You do discover that they are fond of hellfire, an alchemist creation of similar skill to what you make but producing a greenish flame instead of the common orange. Doing a little more digging you find that one of the components to make such an item is usually found in subterranean environments, such as sewers.

As Kai is walking around the library a notices that someone is lurking above on the second floor of the library itself. He sees the shadowed figure staying away from the windows and notices that unlike the others who are here looking for cures this person is not doing that.

Lirian thanked Aeress for convincing Elysia to help her. “And she believes she’s not useful in the library?” she thought to herself.

After what she found about the tomb, she was even more puzzled than before. Those cultists wear the symbol of Tecnos. The book that the dead mage had seemed to be a magical book of sorts dedicated to Morcalus. Was this mage evil, or at least some kind of a necromancer? Who could he be, and why was he taken with the others? How could the cultists pass the book among his belongings? And she was no closer to open it, nor now sure she wanted to. The book seemed now dangerous…

OTOH, what could those cultists that were expanding a plague do with a book that might contain secrets from Morcalus?

"Can’t you be silent?" She heard suddenly. One of Elyasia aides was at her side, with his front frowned, as she was (again) humming some music while lost in her thoughts, disturbing the ones around her.

“ ”Excuse me“”. She answered, embarrassed, while she went where the others were to share what she had found.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:51, Sun 10 Dec 2023.

Reading the stuff, Quentin just sighs. A ******* pantheon here... Teknos, Nyxara and who knows what else. That said, he was not even a bit closer to something useful. First, the hellfire used the last time was plainly wrong kind of substance. Second, even if they were making it now, the only major ingredient listed was found exactly where Quentin was not intending to go. Could have been a herb or some goddamn mineral.

When Lirian comes, he does quote what he found, but also admits the "findings", such as they are, do not suggest we do anything in particular, so just a waste of time.

Aeress didn't depart before asking the librarian when her shift was over.  Maybe if this investigation didn't go well she might have an interesting evening.  Part of being a good knight errant was charming maidens.

As she rejoined the expedition for lack of a better word, she listened to the others.

"I guess it suggests how they were able to fashion that gas and that elaborate mechanism they used to capture us."  Aeress remarked.  "It's all very fascinating, but yeah I'm not sure what immediate action to take.  Is there another trail besides the shopkeeper... well wait, maybe there is."

Aeress carefully fished out the precious ring by removing her gauntlet and revealing it.  She figured it was safest on her finger, underneath the protective armor.

"They did have my ring... well my family's ring.  Knowing how that got there might be a lead."

As the group is discovering things in the library and talking to Elysia there is a ruckus that happens in the back of the library near the area that Kai was visiting. You hear a loud crash and the sounds of screams come from the back.

From the darkness appears a figure that you show earlier. The Jester. He stand above Kai who has obviously been subdued by him and can't move. In his hands are the glow of two hellfire potions.

"Now we have a party!", The creature says with a smile. "You folks are just causing too much trouble and asking too many questions. The time has come to turn up the heat!"

In the glow of the light you can see that the Jester is wearing the pendant of the cultist.

OOC: Time for a good old brawl!

Quentin - AS
Jester - QC
Kai - 9D
Aeress- 9C
Lirian 6C

Library
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:52, Mon 11 Dec 2023.

Without a word, Quentin moves to the jester drawing the rapier and the dagger while on his way. He then stabs the jester. Quentin does not expect this stab to kill the jester and thus does not expect the glowing stuff to fall, shatter and cause fire, but jester's choice of actions might do that anyway... "Don't clump together!" ...though to be fair, Quentin had no idea how large of explosion that is going to be and so whether this piece of advice is relevant.

Assuming cannot move diagonally past a corner, so 6 paces to a square to SE of jester. Stab the guy.

18:36, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 10 using 2d4+1d6+2, rerolling max.  Damage (+2 wild attack, +1d6 raise).
18:34, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 7,16 using 1d6+5,1d6+5, rerolling max.  Fighting (+1 two weapons, +2 unarmed defender, +2 wild attack).

Your hit stabs right through the Jester dealing a nasty wound in his side. Up close Quentin sees a glint of something dangerous in the man's eyes who he doesn't take his knife out. His smile pierces Quentin mind with something manic about the man.

"Little pest. Can you save them all? I doubt it."

An mechanical arm breaks out of the mans back holding one of the hellfire potions and tosses it in the middle of the library. The fire consumes a book shelf as starts to spread rapidly.

With the other potion in his hand, you see him without a thought drink it. The man falls back as his eyes turn a bright green and green liquid starts bubbling from his mouth.

"Now we HAVE a PARTY. HAhahaha." says the Jester.

OOC: Spending a benny to unstun the Jester.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:13, Tue 12 Dec 2023.

Aeress did not make it complicated.  Though there was some distance, she had an open avenue of attack and a long weapon.  Setting for a charge, Aeress came hard at the mad clown.

All right I counted the squares and it looks like with the reach from her spear, Aeress can reach the Jester and attack him without having to run.  Hooray!

I'm going to mix this up a little bit and take two actions.  First, a feint with her spear, which is a Fighting test vs. his Agility (pg 108).  I believe by SWADE rules, since this is a Fighting test, I can use Quentin's presence as a Gang Up bonus on this roll (pg 101), but Wild Attack does not help with this at all.  So the modifiers net to -1.

16:36, Today: Aeress Veles rolled 4,3 using d8-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 5,4.  Fighting Test.

That's actually not bad, if he fails to get a success against 4 on Agility I want him to be Vulnerable.

Her second attack is a regular attack, and it's a Wild Attack so the +2 cancels the -2, but I still have +1 Gang Up for +1 total.

16:39, Today: Aeress Veles rolled 6,5 using d8+1,d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 5,4.  Fighting Attack.

That might actually hit since that is a 6, especially if he failed against the Test.

16:40, Today: Aeress Veles rolled 3,5 using d6+2,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,5.  Possible Damage - Strength, Spear.

Damage roll was not great at 8 total, but if he failed the test and became vulnerable that could be a 10 possibly.

In the commotion, Kai tests his bindings.  They're tight, but as he flexes, he feels the snap of a wrapping breaking.  Poorly made, he thinks.  My lucky day.  He forces his arms apart in one mighty jerk and the bindings break into bits of rope and thread.  He scrambles to his feet.

"You caught me by surprise the first time, Jester." Kai says.  He reaches for the spiked chain at his waist.  "Let's see how you do face-to-face."

18:12, Today: Kai Wasser rolled 11 using 1d6, rerolling max.  Strength Check.

As Aeress stabs the Jester, she notices that her long weapon is able to get into his flesh but not wound him. Still the attack leaves the man staggered from the blow. His face seems to be morphing in real time but he makes no action. It seems he is going through a transforming process.

The fire in the library seems to be spreading but has only spread to whole bookshelf brusting in flames. People near by scream over the green glow of the fire.

Elysia calls to the people inside the library, "Quickly! Grab the buckets. Try to put out the fire."

Lirian was enraged. This time she had taken the bow, but she hadn’t it at hand… After all, why to keep it at her hand inside the library when looking for books? (OOC: trying to use logical thinking, I assume she has left it at the entrance, as no trouble was expected inside the library, and it will disturb to look for books).

She saw the Jester throwing the fire against the books. “How does he dare? Doesn’t he know the value of knowledge? And he fancies to be follower of a technology god?”. Then she saw him swallowing the other flask, as Quentin did against the rats. “A fire breath attack in the middle of the library will be a true and full disaster” she thought.

So, while shouting “BARBARIAN, CAN’T YOU EVEN RESPECT THE BOOKS?”,  she ran to the Infernal and jumped to him, trying to grapple him

16:07, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 3,3 using d4+2,d6+2, rerolling max.  Grapple attempt (athletics). +2 for ganging up. I guess a critical failure

Misscalculating the move in her rage, Lirian stumbled with a chair and fell on ground
This message was last edited by the player at 15:28, Wed 13 Dec 2023.

OOC: Well not a critical fail. ;)

Round 2

IC: When Lirian tries to grapple the Jester she quickly realizes whatever he just did is giving him a strength that barely makes him move. His grin stares back at Lirian in the face with little sign of the wounds he has taken or even what is happening around him. She gets the feeling something bad is about to happen.

1. Lirian 10 H
2. Quentin 6 C
3. Jester 6 D
4. Aeress 4 S
5. Kai 3 H

<img src="https://i.ibb.co/1bJgc8d/library6.jpg" alt="library6" border="0">
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:42, Wed 13 Dec 2023.

OOC: as this turn Lirian is the first one to act, and I don’t want to stop others, I don’t wait for the map.

IC:
Lirian rage was increasing, and seeing how the Infernal was changing she guessed the potion he has taken was not for fire, but something else that was producing the change. She had to act now, before whatever the potion could do was not yet done..

She stood up as quick as she could and, taking her staff, she tried a double attack (with both edges of it) against the Infernal before he could act or the potion took its whole effect.

Trying 2 attacks, one with each end of the staff:

• 22:51, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 8,4 using d8+3,d6+3, rerolling max with rolls of 5,1.  Fighting: 1st attack. +2 for unarmed, -2 for two actions, +3 for gang up. I guess a hit with no raises.
• 22:52, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 9,8 using d8+3,d6+3, rerolling max with rolls of 6,5.  Fighting: 2nd attack. +2 for unarmed, -2 for two actions, +3 for gang up.
• 22:53, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 7 using d6+d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,3.  Damage from first hit.
• 22:54, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 3 using d6+d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,1.  Damage from second hit.

Well, not great rolls… I guess at most Lirian shakes him…
This message was last edited by the player at 12:57, Thu 14 Dec 2023.

Quentin stabs at the jester with full speed and full force, but misses him and hits some furniture, lodging the rapier in there well and deep so that it does not easily come out. He spends no time trying to pull it, switching to the dagger instead, first connecting a hit somewhere in the center of the torso and then making a strong uppercut right under the chin. Quentin is not sure if it has reached the brain, but the thing lodged there should at least prevent the guy from easily breathing fire, so Quentin leaves it in place and, now unarmed, retreats to the door southwest.

11:18, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 21 using 2d4+1d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of (4+2)6,(4+4+1)9,4.  Damage (+2 wild attack, +1d6 raise IF APPLICABLE).
11:17, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 12 using 2d4+1d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 3,3,4.  Damage (+2 wild attack, +1d6 raise IF APPLICABLE).
11:14, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 7,5 using 1d6+3,1d6+3, rerolling max with rolls of 4,2.  Dagger (+2 unarmed defender, +2 wild attack, +3 gang up, -4 multi-action).
11:14, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 8,4 using 1d6+3,1d6+3, rerolling max with rolls of 5,1.  Dagger (+2 unarmed defender, +2 wild attack, +3 gang up, -4 multi-action).
11:06, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 5,5 using 1d6+4,1d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of 1,1.  Rapier (+1 two weapons, +2 unarmed defender, +2 wild attack, +3 gang up, -4 multi-action).

The Jester falls backwards from the attack from Lirian and Quentin. His wounds have overcome him and his grin stays staring you in the face as he eyes close with a green substance pouring out of his mouth. A bottle of green liquid rolls down the isle towards the fire and stops a few feet from the fire. That is licking the bookshelves and spreading at a rate that is much quicker than you would expect.

Elysia calls out from the front, "Over here! We have people coming with buckets of water but I am unsure if it will stop the spread."

Aeress breathed a sigh of relief, but then realized how foolish that was.  Thinking quickly she scrambled to a nearby stack of parchments and scrolls and began to scoop up piles of them and move them just a short distance away.

"Starve the fire!  Move the fuel out of the way!  We need..."  She remembered her pack.  "Thick blankets, or similar!"

Realizing that might be better than trying to isolate the fire, she unfurled the blanket and tried to smother the edges of the fire with it.  That perhaps was not going to turn out to be wise.

Quentin's next actions would be to...
1. Notice the jester is down.
2. Return to where all the action is.
3. Notice the bottle of green liquid a few feet from the fire.
4. Take the bottle of green liquid and Stromharbor history book out of the building.
5. Take jester('s corpse) out of the building.
6. Observe.

This will take some time, but likely not as much as the firefighting is going to take.

21:23, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 3,4 using 1d6,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,4.  Notice.

OOC: So pick one action. Assuming Quentin will go in order so you do notice the vial. If you want to try to take it without being burned then you are going to have a make agility check against the fire itself to try to snatch it without taking damage of some sort.

Aeress make a persuasion roll to see if they listen to you or continue to panic.

Anyone else can do the same. In order to notice the vial first make a notice roll similar to Quentin as an action, then agility to grab it.

Quentin hopefully grabs the bottle before the contents are ruined and the fire is further fueled.

23:16, Today: Quentin Fox rolled 2,4 using 1d6,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,4.  Agility.

The fire burns so hot that Quentin struggles to get close. A few times he reaches for the liquid, the smoke filling the air clogs his lungs leaving him breathing harder than he would like. The heat from the flames you can tell is burning much hotter than regular flame.

OOC: You manage to grab the liquid but you take 1 fatigue level. The smoke has filled your lungs with a foul air that seems to making breathing more of a labored task.

"Hey!  Jester!  Remember me?!"  Kai whips his spiked chain at Jester.

This is my first SWADE combat roll, so let me know if I forgot anything.

Hit 10 for 9 damage.

16:55, Today: Kai Wasser rolled 9 using 1d6+1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,4.  damage.

16:52, Today: Kai Wasser rolled 5,3 using 1d6,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,3.  attack.
+2 unarmed, +3 gang up

In reply to Vaelan Nightshade (msg # 31):

Aeress really hoped people would see sense and not panic.  But that might be too much to hope for!

00:20, Today: Aeress Veles rolled 6,2 using d6+1,d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 5,1.  Persuasion.

Kai chain licks the man's body which makes a soft wet sound. The blood pours from the wound but there is no movement from the body itself.

People start looking around for something to cover the fire but most of them are frantic realizing throwing water on the flames itself it is a bad idea.

The flames spread to a few more book cases. Now there is smoke filling the library.

Elysia in tears says, "Abandon it. We move leave now. Grab what you can."

At about this time Hunter and Piper are walking through the middle of the city when they see the smoke in the distance. Immediately Hunter knows this is not good.

OOC: Hunter and Piper you are still a decent ways away from the library it will take you a few turns to get there.

Image tool is down. As soon as it is up I will post a new map.

This is the best I can do for now. Library burning
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:02, Sat 16 Dec 2023.

Quentin grabs the history book and starts to head out, then realizes he would be completely unarmed if he leaves the weapons and the library burns down, so he proceeds to get and sheathe both the rapier and the dagger.

"Damn, people, grab this corpse someone! I had to live without the big rat, but we cannot just leave this here!"

Quentin absolutely wants to look at the insides of the corpse, but he already has his hands full. Will come back to it if no one grabs it and there is the time.

Very nice video there. Flat pics are just fine.

Piper directed Mosii to hop down next to Hunter when the smoke was spotted coming up from the city.

"Does the city have a way of dealing with whatever appears to be burning?"  She asked not knowing what sorts of the machines Hunter had mentioned earlier that they might have to address such a thing.

Aeress wasn't sure what else there was to do, so she tried to encourage people to clear out.  She actually agreed with recovering the body, there could be evidence, and proceeded to grab the dead jester's ankles and drag.

Seeing the fire expanding through the shelves Lirian felt horrified. “We cannot allow all this knowledge to be lost” she thought to herself. Then she heard Elysia’s order to evacuate saving whatever they could and her horror grew.

“We must put out this fire, or at least gain time for the books to be saved” she said, grabbing any cloth she found (a cloak, a carpet, whatever she could find) and moving to the flames. “Too much knowledge to be lost”

Not knowing one book from another, Kai grabs as many as he can from the nearest shelf.  He finds the nearest window and throws them out, then goes back for more.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:59, Sat 16 Dec 2023.

OOC: Okay here is how we will lay out the scene and how we are going to do this. This is going to be a combined task effort. Piper and Hunter will arrive after the first round.

There will be 4 rounds and 1012 tokens before the fire takes over the building and everyone in it. If your objective is to smoother the fire someone needs to search for something to smoother it with. If you want put out the fire with buckets of water, you can try that too. Assuming Kai wants to get the body out the building that is a different roll and of course there will be complications if you pull a bad card.

Each round will require a certain number of successes to beat back the fire or get out of alive.

The city does in fact have something to combat the fire but it would take some time to find the people who could hand this. Unless you find a big way to signal them.

Kai moving the body requires a STR roll. -2 difficulty
Looking for anything requires perception which can then be communicated to the rest of team. -1 difficulty
Using said item will require agility regardless the item. -1 difficulty

Round 1: Cards
Kai - 2H
Lirian - 4H
Aeress - Joker
Quentin - 4S


The fire is burning wildly and threatening to consume all of the library. Pick your actions and make you rolls.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:10, Tue 19 Dec 2023.

Seeing the flames, Hunter swore, drew a pistol and burst into a run. "I have no idea" he answered Piper as he ran.

OOC: What the heck's going on? Can't leave these people anywhere!
11:01, Today: Hunter Gallagher rolled 1,3 using d6,d8, rerolling max with rolls of 1,3.  notice.

Seeing Hunter begin to run, Piper urged Mosii to follow.

"Piper, do you see one of those bell things they had at the map shop? For calling the Guard?" Hunter gasped.

10:14, Today: Hunter Gallagher rolled 7,3 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+1)7,3.  Jenkins notice.

Looks like Jenkins does, or otherwise spots something useful.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:17, Sun 17 Dec 2023.

Lirian was determined not to let the library burn. She began to sing her song of might while she reached the flames and, taking her own cloak, she began to try to smooth the flames with it.

10:01, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 2,3 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,5.  Perform: casting song of might to raise Agiliti to Aeres, Kai, Quentin and herself (5 PPs). Failure
10:03, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 0,5 using d8-3,d6-3, rerolling max with rolls of 3,(6+2)8.  Agility to smooth the fire. -2 for multiple actions, -1 as given by GM. I guess success and one token taken…

Among the fire and the horror she felt, she could not find the tone for her song, but she achieved some smoothing of the flames by suffocating them with her cloak

Quentin leaves the library with his weapons, the book and the bottle. He leaves the book and the bottle outside and heads back inside to observe the events.

"Wet all the shelves around the burning one and throw one pint of water high on the burning shelf to see how it goes!"

15:07, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 7,1 using 1d6+1-1,1d6+1-1, rerolling max with rolls of (6+1)7;1.  Persuasion.

Seeing the dilemma of the fire was being addressed, Aeress figured it was wise to clear the body out of the way if for no other reason than anything lying on the floor like that was, in fact, in the way.  If she could take care of that real quick, it wouldn't end the disaster but it would help the disaster meet its end.

Draggin' time!  The +2 cancels the -2.  Unfortunately for me Aeress is an Agility build lol

17:41, Today: Aeress Veles rolled 8,3 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+2)8,3.  Drag.

But that's a very good roll, so all is well!

Kai continues to gather up books to throw out the window to safety (hopefully).  On his third trip he sees Aeress dragging Jester's body.  "What are you doing?  He's dead.  Let him burn.  He deserves no better."

Kai is going to continue throwing books out the window (on the rather simple logic of "fire here, so move books there") unless someone directs him otherwise.

Aeress is able to drag the body a quarter of the way through the library. His body seems much denser than you might expect. As kai continues tossing books out the windows the fire is slowly being beat back by Lirian and the library worker who are tossing water to try to quench the fire. Each toss makes a loud hissing and doesn't stop the fire itself but it does seem to be slowing it's spread forward.

Jenkins manages to find a bell close to the area and ring it, signaling to people there is a problem which they clearly start to see from all the smoke.

Hunter and Piper arrive on the scene to the library.

Aeress -1 token
Quentin > Library workers  -1 token

Round 2: Tokes remaining 8.
1. Hunter KD
2. Piper QH
3. Lirian JC
4. Kai 9D
5. Aeress 5C
6. Quentin 4H

As the fire continues to burn Lirian notices that up above on the second floor there is cries coming from someone upstairs. As this happens Aeress notices that the body that she is holding starts to twitch uncontrollably. It seems the body is bubbling from the inside. The clothes of the Jester seem to stretch and tear showing fur beneath.

What do you do?

Map: map
Video: video
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:32, Wed 20 Dec 2023.

Piper took a moment to assess the situation then stood up on Mosii's back and reached a paw into the air.

A bank of miniature fat rain clouds appeared at head height to the average human and quickly released a torrent of rain before dissipating altogether, leaving a quartet of small water elementals behind.

Casting Summon Monster.

Summoning 4 Water Elementals (Small)

Piper rolled 4,4.  Spellcasting

"Master! Look! Like that?" Jenkins Exclaimed, pointing at a large bell.
"Yes, like that. Go make some noise. Lots of noise!" Hunter replied.

Whooping with excitement, Jenkins scampered over to the bell and began clanging it wildly and savagely like a demented monkey.

Hunter burst into the library, pistol at the ready, ready to engage whatever foe there was, only to see the battle was over, Liriam and others trying to battle a fire, Aeress dragging a body, and Kai running around with an armful of books.

"KAI! NO! THAT'S TOO SLOW! PULL SOME DRAPES DOWN AMD SMOTHER IT!" he yelled. "And give me your cloak!"

He runs to the burning bookshelf and sees what can be done.

If the entire bookshelf is aflame, he pushes other ones over and away so as to isolate the fire and stop it spreading. If it is partially aflame, he wraps his hands in Kai's cloak if he receives it, and pulls out burning books and throws them on the ground and stamps on them, but either way, trying to separate burning things from not burning things. If he doesn't get something ro protect his hands, he will use a knife to pull books out without touching them much.



Hunter quickly agreed and worked with Quentin to clear books and shelves away from the fire, getting as close to the flames as he dared. He uses Kai's cloak to protect his hands if he's given it, otherwise will use a knife instead of his hand as point of contact with hot things.


Ooc: not sure what to roll. Strength if pushing bookshelves, agility if throwing books and not getting burned?

08:00, Today: Hunter Gallagher rolled 1,5 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,5.  Agility if appropriate.

08:00, Today: Hunter Gallagher rolled 2,3 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,3.  strength if appropriate
This message was last edited by the player at 09:34, Wed 20 Dec 2023.

Quentin runs past the flame and into a shelf close to the burning shelf. He recoils and shouts for assistance, explaining what he has just tried to do.

"We can bring down these nearby shelves away from the fire to prevent the top of the flame from spreading to them! They are just too damn heavy!"

23:36, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 2,0 using 1d6-1,1d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 3,1.  Agility(?) on shelves.

Hearing cries on the second floor Lirian realized only extinguishing the fire could save them, but she was left in a bad position for it. She felt the best way to help now was to spend some time to help others with magic, so she began to sing again:

19:44, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 5,2 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,2.  Performance: Singing Song of Might to increase agility for herself, Kai, Aeress and Quentin. 5 PPs . Success (except for Kai, due to his curse): Lirian, Aeress and Quentin increase Agiliy by 1 die class

This time she found the tone and felt the rush of magic help on her veins, hoping the others also did.

OOC: I was rolling when Quentin rolled his action. Per initiative order, Lirian's magic should affect him and Aeress this turn (and so should have rolled d8-1,d6-1 instead of d6-1,d6-1). I guess we should assume it took some time for Lirian's song to have effect and he is not this round...
This message was last edited by the player at 19:15, Tue 19 Dec 2023.

That just hacked Aeress off.

"It's not about him you hobby horse!  It's about the fact he's probably coated in gods know how many other alchemical substances, and his body may be our only clue!  If he goes up in the fire, this whole block, and anything we might learn, could too!"

The audacity distracted her, and she wasn't as quick to respond as she might have been otherwise as she helped with moving possible consumables away from the flames in an attempt to starve the fire.

lol well -2 but Agility boosted let's see how this goes

18:30, Today: Aeress Veles rolled 1,8 using d10-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 3,(6+4)10.  Smothers Brothers!

It goes great!

But apparently Aeress so so mad she was snapping the drapes with considerable... vigor.

Kai glares at Aeress.  "I don't like it.  I don't like him.  He died too easily.  Too conveniently."

The witch hunter looks down at the body.  He shakes his head and mutters.  "Have it your way."  Kai sits Jester's body up and lifts him into a fireman's carry.  Or at least he tries to.  After much struggling and little progress, he lets Jester's body fall back down with a thud.

"Bloody hell, what's this guy eat?"  He gives an exasperated sigh.

After a moment of thinking, Kai formulates another plan.  He ties his chain around the Jester's feet and drags him toward the stairs.  Or at least he tries to.  Again, he is foiled.

Kai gives the Jester's body a swift kick in the ribs.  "Can I have some help over here?"

Seriously?

17:46, Today: Kai Wasser rolled -1,2 using d6-2,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,2.  carry.

Seriously?!

17:53, Today: Kai Wasser rolled 1,2 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,2.  drag.

OOC: So if I am counting correctly. Aeress moves the body -1 token. The library helpers also continue to help put out the flames -1 token. Hunters for pushing the book shelf down? -1 token.

Round 3: Tokens remaining 5:

Piper: AH
Quentin: AD
Kai: QC -2
Lirian: 5D
Aeress: 4S
Hunter: 3C -2

Update Map: Map

IC: The body of the Jester seems to pop and bubble even more as Aeress realizes it has changed from it's infernal shell to something resembling the creatures you fought earlier. His green eyes pop open as Aeress continues dragging him. You can tell his is waking up.

The fire itself seems to be held back from the library helpers. But the fire still has a change of exploding and turning into an inferno.

What do you do?
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:46, Tue 26 Dec 2023.

Piper chittered at her quartet of water elementals and they headed into the library to deal with the fire.


All 4 elementals moving into the library to use Drench on the fire.

Hunter kept pulling books off away from the fire to stop it from spreading, to little avail. What could be done had been done. "It's too hot, I can't get near it. Where are those curtains?" he called out.

Outside, a bell was clanging as if a deranged psychopathic mob of delinquent monkeys was trying to destroy the thing, which wasn't far from the case.

13:09, Today: Hunter Gallagher rolled 1,2 using d6,d10, rerolling max with rolls of 1,2.  Agility.

Quentin intends to do some more fire-fighting, but then, halfway in, notices the dead jester acting strange. He does not just let that continue to happen, so runs there at full speed, drawing the weapons, and stabs the what with the rapier before it does anything funny.

Not sure if the target is still considered unarmed (this would give Quentin a further +2 to hit) or armed (this is as per the roll) or armed with natural weapons (this would negate the +1 two-weapons bonus). Also the target is likely Prone (page 104, -2 to Fighting and Parry) and Grappled (page 101, which probably means just Entangled as per page 98, which means Distracted as per page 100 for -2 to all actions and can't readily move). Not adding any Gang Up because Aeress is likely busy with grappling.

Quentin ends up Vulnerable because of Wild Attack.

11:34, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 5,4 using 1d6,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,4.  Attack (-1 fatigued, -2 running, +1 two weapons, +2 wild attack).
11:36, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 7,1 using 2d4+2,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,3,1.  Damage.

"Foul being!"  Aeress, realizing what was happening, opted to try to move the corpse-ish thing entirely off site.

Or so she'll try.

10:01, Today: Aeress Veles rolled 3,4 using d6,d6, rerolling max ((3,4)).

Lirian felt invigorated by her own magic, and could extract herself from the dangerous situation she has put herself shortly before. She was still concerned by the cries upstairs, and ken only extinguishing the flames could save those people there.

On the other hand, she was hearing Kai and Quentin cries about the assumed corpse of the Jester being metamorphosed, but she was in better position to keep with the flames, and so she had to trust them about whatever the Jester could do.

So she began again to try to extinguish the fire with her already damaged cloak, trying to use the water elementals’ work to her advantage.

16:34, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 6,4 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,4.  Agility: trying to extinguish flames. (oops, I forgot the -1 given by the GM). I guess one more success (so one more token out).

The work seemed to be advancing as she could reduce the flames a little more. She felt a little conforted seeing they could really achieve it...
This message was last edited by the player at 19:58, Wed 27 Dec 2023.

As Quentin stabs the creature he sees in almost slow motion as he brings down his blade the weapon seems to do no damage to the creature. As Aeress pulls the creature to the closest door it jumps up in a defensive stance and begins to run towards the door. It seems to want to get away. Meanwhile Pipers elementals with the help of the library folk are fighting the fire. They seem to be controlling it a good bit. Lirian also helps put out another section, but while she is doing that she notices that the floor around the shelves are black. The fire seems to be burning at a accelerated rate meaning soon it will collapse. Hunter removed some books from the area seemingly keeping the fire contained but he also notices the floor seems to be crackling at the area around the fire itself.

Round 4: Tokens 3

Kai - AD
Aeress - AC *
Hunter - 8S
Lirian - 8D
Quentin - 8C *
Piper - 2C *

* Complications
Map: I'll update this soon.

Kai, Quentin, Aeress all get a free attack against the creature. Aeress, you are at a disadvantage because you were dragging him so you can unarmed punch the creature but you can't ready your weapon in time. Quentin and Kai are feel free to roll against 12 parry (this is taken in consideration his +4 defense but we are moving on to the next round. 8 Parry after that for attacks if you decide to try to catch him.

"Faster people, the floor is catching fire! Hurry it up" Hunter roared. "And where are those damn curtains? Ah, you're a champion" he said to the librarian rushing over with a heavy bundle of cloth. Grabbing it, he chased after the water beasties and wrangled the thick material over a bookcase while the flames were temporarily doused.

Outside, Jenkins was getting bored with ringing the bell, and her arms were getting tired. She headed over to the library to see what fun was to be had there, and soon spotted a bunch of people stabbing and kicking something on the ground. Her eyes lit up with excitement and she called out encouragement "Oooh! Good one! Stab him again! Kick his rocks off! PULL 'is eyes out!"


Ooc if the monster runs, Jenkins will follow after and lead the chase.
13:07, Today: Hunter Gallagher rolled 3,5 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,5.  Jenkins athletics.

13:06, Today: Hunter Gallagher rolled 2,4 using d6,d10, rerolling max with rolls of 2,4.  Agility.
02:19, Today: Hunter Gallagher rolled 1,6 using d6,d10, rerolling max with rolls of 1,6.  reroll agility
Spending a bennie to reroll

This message was last edited by the player at 13:21, Fri 29 Dec 2023.

Kai pulls the iron chakram off his back and whirls it at the Jester-thing.  The spinning ring misses its target by a fraction of an inch and winds up embedding itself into the doorframe.  Kai curses his luck and sprints after the beast.

17:58, Today: Kai Wasser rolled 2,11 using 1d6,1d6, rerolling max ((2,(6+5)11)).

Piper urged Mosii into the church to make sure her elementals were continuing to do what they could against the fire, and so she could get a look at things.

Quentin stabs the thing as it breaks away, but again for no major effect. He then gives it a parallel chase with the following intents:
1. To be out of melee range of the thing for any reasonably direct path out it might take.
2. To be able to exit the building as soon as it exits the building.

"Everyone stay clear of it when it exits!"

Depending on which doors this creature is after, this might be Run action (6+6 paces total, so overtaking the creature): https://i.ibb.co/PMCzrZJ/image.png. Or just 3 paces west and Defend action.

10:05, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 6 using 1d6.  Running die.
09:58, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 6 using 2d4+2, rerolling max with rolls of 3,1.  Damage (+2 wild attack).
09:57, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 7,15 using 1d6+4,1d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of 3,(6+5)11.  Attack (-1 fatigued, +1 two weapons, +2 wild attack, +2 gang up).
This message was last edited by the player at 05:44, Fri 29 Dec 2023.

Lirian heard the suspected dead Jester was again given trouble. “What in the hell is this monster?” she wondered.

Nonetheless, whatever it could be, she saw the floor getting black as the flames affected it and threatening to collapse. So others would have to deal with the monster, as the library and the people above had to be saved first

So, seeing the elementals helping and Hunter joining in the firefighting, she renewed her beating on the flames with her cloak, trying to put them down, centering where the floor seemed more burnt, trying to avoid its collapse.

14:15, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 7,0 using d10-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 8,1.  Agility: trying to extinguish flames. I guess one more token…

Since she already had a hold of the monster and was wearing gauntlets, Aeress did something brutal and unconventional.  She resettled her armored fingers into her enemy's exposed orifices, and pulled him along the hard way!

So instead of just punching him, which will probably do nothing useful, Aeress uses her armored fingers to good effect, shoving them into his exposed eyes, mouth, etc.  Basically instead of dragging him by his arms, I'm dragging him by his face!  I'm proposing this as a Fighting Test (pg 108).  The goal of the test is to make the Jester Vulnerable.

Unfortunately I have A complication so that's -2

18:05, Today: Aeress Veles rolled 0,14 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 2,(6+6+4)16.  Fighting Test. – 0,14

Your move, Jester Boy.  Also, that was technically the "free" attack so I'll make another roll to drag him some more.

18:06, Today: Aeress Veles rolled 5,3 using d6-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of (6+1)7,5.  Strength. – 5,3

OOC: You have successfully stopped the fire and saved the library. However now you have a new problem.

map: map

IC: As the water elementals, towns folk, Lirian and Hunter put out the fire huge bellowing amounts of smoke starts filling every crack of the libraries square footage. Most of the library people start leaving the library and heading outside for fresh air.

Elysia is more than thankful to you and is trying not gather enough air to thank you properly. Tears of joy run down her face. Inside you can still feel the creaks of the floor giving way and realize it's a matter of seconds before the floor itself collapses due to the weight of the bookshelves half burnt and the damage from the fire.

Off in the distance the some people are coming with a large wagon that appears to be a fire fighting device. Better late than nothing you think.

OOC: Make an agility check: Lirian & Hunter.

Meanwhile the other group is dealing with the huge mutated rat that was the jester. The rat manages to kick off Aeress which gives trying to hold on. While Quentin and Kai stab the beast leaving a green blood oozing out of the wounds. The creature moves as full sprint speed while Jenkins starts the chase of trying to grab the beast before it can reach it's location.

OOC: Everyone gain a benny.
Who is going to chase the creature besides Jenkins?
Everyone due to the smoke is fatigued at this point. So keep that in mind.

Quentin makes it to the door drawing one of his new "extra" potions. He takes a large gulp and breathes fire out of the door, aiming a bit low to limit the range of collateral damage.

The jester rat guy gets hit for 14 damage with the following options:
+ one level of fatigue whenewer any damage is taken
+ armor piercing 4
+ will linger for 3d4 next round with the same above modifiers
- unless he evades by Agility -2 as per page 100 (if applicable)

20:56, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 14 using 3d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,5,5.  Firebeath +2, extra damage +2, lingering +2, fatigue +2, AP 4 for another +2.
20:49, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 1,4 using 1d8-1,1d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 2,5.  Rerolling it.
20:49, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 3,1 using 1d8-1,1d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 4,2.  Rerolling it.
20:49, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 3,3 using 1d8-1,1d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 4,4.  Alchemy for FULL MAX EXTRA FIRE BREATH.

Hunter staggers back from the smouldering bookshelves and heads for the door in a stumbling coughing run.

Jenkins is chasing the rat monster but staying out of reach. She's more interested in knowing where it runs to than attacking it.


15:53, Today: Hunter Gallagher rolled 2,5 using 1d6-1,1d10-1, rerolling max with rolls of 3,6.  athletics. -1 smoke fatigue. – 2,5

"Stop!"  Aeress wondered how he got away from her with such ease, but didn't think about it too hard or she might not be running after him.

Seeing the fire go out and spotting a rat monster running for the side door from where she was out front, Piper urged Mosii into a sprint for the corner of the library.


Piper rolled 5.  Run.

A roll of 5 plus a pace of 8 should put them right at the corner.

Kai chases after the Jester-thing, slowing only a moment to pull his chakram from the doorsill.  He notices streaks of green blood.  "Looks like I did hit him."

He turns onto the street, but after a few yards he is suddenly racked by a cough.  The adrenalin of the fight is wearing off and the smoke from the fire is setting in.

"Hell!"

07:48, Today: Kai Wasser rolled 1 using 1d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 2.  run, -1 smoke inhalation.

Okay, maybe taking that -1 smoke wasn't such a good idea after all.

Seeing the fire under control and being extinguished made Lirian to feel victorious. She stopped a little to rest and take breath, despite the smoke made breathing difficult and irritated her eyes, and her musculature was soaring after the effort

Suddenly, she heard a crack on the floor, and she realized it was about to collapse. Fire might be out, but the weakened floor could not hold the weight of the book shelves… She tried to move not to fall with them.

15:21, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 1,2 using d10-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 2,3.  Agility roll (-1 due to smoke/fatigue). – 1,2. I guess failure….
This message was last edited by the player at 14:24, Tue 02 Jan.

As the creature escapes from the door on the side of the library Quentin is able to blow hot fire on the creatures back setting it ablaze. Even in the daylight and smoke, the fire gives way to screams as the thing runs off with people in toe. It makes it into the city and collapses before the fires damages. Some guards run up and seem wary of the creature one of them throwing a bucket of water on it to put it out. By the time that you get close they have surround him just in time for you to hear,

"Get the irons boy. This thing is going to the king. Find a crate to throw whatever this in."

You look between the legs of the men and realize that while badly burnt from the flames there's still signs of life but the creature does not move. It seem for now, it's too weak to do much of anything.

A few of the guards seem surprised to see a goblin and Mouseling showing up, "By the gods. What has this city come to.", says one of the men.

Meanwhile, back at the library Lirian hears the creaking floor just before the snap happens. All the sudden there is a shift in her footing as Hunter barely manages to jump back from the edge. Smoke flies everywhere filling every crack of the giant hole that is left as Lirian and anything library person hangs on the edge for dear life. Near the edge you can see that down below is a pretty decent fall and a minor fire is still down in the basement of the library which likely housed old relics of the past.

OOC: Make a strength check (including Lirian) to pull yourself or someone else up from the caved floor.

16:52, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 4,4 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,4.  Strenght roll. – 4,4

"This, uh, creature, is connected to a fire set at the library, and potentially to the rat problem and disease here in the city."  Piper exclaimed after Mosii bullied his way past the legs of the guards so the pair of them were within the loose perimeter of men, better to be seen and heard.

"We have a doctor who has been investigating the sickness.  Please allow him to examine this creature while it's still, uh, fresh, before it gets crated off."


Looking to Jenkins, Piper asked of the goblin, "Jenkins, can you go get Quentin and lead him back here?




Back at the library, given their last set of orders to 'put out the fire', the elementals see more burning down below and sluice their way into the basement to begin dousing the flames there.

When Piper mentioned Quentin, he was in fact observing the scene that he has sort of caused. From some distance, but still...

The noise from the Library was worrying, but thinking of it rationally, Quantin cannto help but notice that...
1. The body count of people in there should not change much by his absence or presence.
2. Whatever happened, people there are dead, fine, or in a position to shout for help.
3. Quentin, for the life of him, cannot just let the guards have the creature.

So, he picks up the book and the bottle and hurries to where the burned creature fell. He is beyond impressed to see the creature not dead yet.

"Yeah, irons, sure do. It faked being dead one time already." Then thinking of it, Quentin says. "I don't think we are pressed for time. Say what, we load the thing on my horse and get it straight to the king's lead surgeon, get the king's lead torturer and maybe some other men and start looking for answers." Then Quentin remembers he better explain how he fits in. "I'm Quentin Fox, a medic doing some research into things related to this plague, and I can well participate in the autopsy and in the torture... err, likely the other way around, and can also provide some background on the events, there is quite a number of facts that are worth mentioning."

00:51, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 4,4 using 1d6,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,4.  Persuasion to follow Quentin's plan (+1 upper-class dress, -1 fatigued).

Upon Quentin's arrival the two guards block access to the creature. Quentin and Piper are able to still see it but they don't seem to be following what either says. One man comes out from behind the two obviously a leader of the bunch.

"What is your business here?", says the man. He listens to the mouse with a raised eye brow and then replies to all parties. "You won't be taking this creature. It's property of the king now. If you would like to seek an audience with the king then talk to one of his advisors. I understand that you are involved in this but please leave this to the professionals. King has a ton of advisors who are likely as skilled as you."

It's clear that your first impression did not impress the man.

Piper looked up at Quentin.  The guards seemed unconvinced, and she assumed whatever she had to say wasn't going to sway them.  Most big folks where that way and she considered it courtesy enough when they simply managed to avoid accidentally stepping on her.

So Piper waited to see if perhaps he had another suggestion for them that they might be willing to acquiesce to, or if it was more prudent to leave the mostly corpse in the hands of the guards and head back to the library.

 Hunter looked around and  realized Liriam hadn't made it out. Still coughing, he went back inside to help as he could, and presently was helping pull people out of the hole.

"What's down there?" he asked, curious.

Jenkins ran back to get Quentin,  only to see him already hurrying over.  Therefore she just stayed out of the way,viewing proceedings from a distance, especially as she thought one of the guards had been chasing her through the crowd a couple of days ago.

13:21, Today: Hunter Gallagher rolled 0,4 using d6-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 1,5.  hunter strength.

"Gallagher!  What the--"

There must be other people still in there.  Damn fool.  The witch hunter empties his lungs to the the last of the smoke out then takes a deep breath.  "It's not like the fire will make me any uglier," he says with a humorless laugh.  He charges back into the library.

Okay I see no evidence Aeress succeeded at chasing the Jester, so assuming I failed, so per the OOC:

Aeress seemed to have been evaded by her intended prey, but things seemed awry within the library.  Cursing her luck that not only had an enemy she'd had her fingers up the nose of managed to get away from her so easily, but also so quickly, she dived back into the building to see if she could help anyone.

"Is everyone clear?"  She called out, waving a cloak to try to create a pocket of decent air in the smokehole.

Quentin is a bit irritated by the peoples' reaction, but does his best to control himself. "The business is catching the thing and making sure it ends up with king's advisors. That's for a start. So, no objections to king's claim on in, just was offering my horse as a transport. I don't need an audience with the king, one of the advisors will do, and I totally prefer to share an appointment with this thingy as the matters discussed would be highly related. As skilled as those advisers can be, they sure will need some raw information about the matters at hand."

Inside the Library, Lirian was nearly falling when she realized there was still some fire in the basement, Fearing the fire might climb again and destroy everything (or that important things were in the basement), she decided to let her fall trying to control the fall, so that she could extinguish it too and save whatever there could be there.

16:53, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 16,6 using d10-3,d6-3, rerolling max with rolls of (10+9)19,(6+3)9.  Agility: controlling the fall. Still raised Agility, -2 for difficulty, -1 for fatigue/smoke. – 16,6. Success with 3 raises!!!

She rolled on reaching the ground below, avoiding the flames and the ruble, and began moving to the small flames to extinguish them…

While approaching the fire, se saw the small water elementals comming to help her with the small fire (so I understand from Piper's msg #79)
This message was last edited by the player at 16:01, Wed 03 Jan.

Hunter is able to pull up the person who is hanging on an edge while he watches Lirian fall into the pit of smoke and blackness. He doesn't hear a scream but when he looks into the pit he sees that Lirian lands with surprising grace unharmed. The water elementals move towards Lirian trying to find a way down but just end up jumping. One of hits the flame with a thud and turns into a puddle not really reforming but managing to put out one of the main existing fires that continued to burn with a passion. The other elementals goto work putting out the rest of the flames.

Below Lirian sees a number of different books and trinkets under the library which gives her a strange feeling. She notices that the stairs that connect are apparently lead up to a dead end but likely a hollow bookshelf from above. A secret passage? Why?

Aeress and Kai run into trying to see if anyone else needs help as a few of the library people come out of the smoking building. Each coughing and having a hard time seeing anything.

Meanwhile...

The guard lifts his hands in a display of aggravation, "Looks citizen. I understand. Right now our job is to secure this thing. We don't need any help with that. We have our own horses. If you want to Roland Stonecroft. He is the one managing this rat plague. What's your name? I'll let him know you are coming when we go back to the castle."

Quentin can tell this man is pretty hard-headed still he is giving you some sort of information.

Quentin is not quite sure if the man if the real guard or just jester's "plan B", but at least him naming names suggests he is real. Then again, Quentin is not sure if the jester's "plan B" will be coming and if the man will be able to handle it well. He says: "Quentin Fox. I'll try to meet Lord Stonecroft sometime today." Then he lets the men do as they will, but...
1. Gets his dogs and the horse together.
2. Attempts to conspire with Piper to escort the guards wherever they are going to go without getting too close.

Hunter grabs the edge of the hole, swings over, hangs and drops down too. He wandered around looking.

"Ti cant see a damn thing down here!" He growled. "Hey, where did that thing come from? Off the street or from down here?"

JENKINS!He called up to the faces peering down. "Call Jenkins would you?"

07:21, Today: Hunter Gallagher rolled 3,1 using d6,d8, rerolling max with rolls of 3,1.  Hunter notice. penalties for low light may apply? – 3,1

07:11, Today: Hunter Gallagher rolled 6,2 using d10-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 7,3.  Hunter agility.

Edit: I missed the ooc conversation re falling. Even so, if there is an additional -2 penalty, it s still a success.

This message was last edited by the player at 23:47, Wed 03 Jan.

When Quentin leaves the men be for a moment, Piper gets herself up on his shoulder so she can speak without having to be loud about it.

"I believe Hunter was given information and a letter about this Roland Stonecroft, from his cousin.  This cousin suggested if we could provide Stonecroft with evidence of what's going on, he would be helpful.  Maybe if we can get to him quickly, he can come see this rat thing when the guard get it to the castle, and put in a word to let you assist in whatever they're going to do with it."

Quentin is not quite sure about this plan: "I would be halfway satisfied if this thing does get to the castle. We would come empty-handed if for some reason it does not. I think that them handling it there is less of a problem if we can get the results out via Roland Stonecroft. Which way you think we should risk it?"

“Thanks, little friends” Lirian said to the elementals, as she saw them putting off the remaining flames. She then turned to look at the area to see what was there and in what condition after the ceiling had fallen over it. She then heard Hunter and calling for Jenkins.

“HI Hunter” she greeted him. “What in the hell happened with the Jester? I was too busy to aid you with him, but he seemed too easy to put down…

And please, let your goblin out. We’re not here to plunder, as anything here if property of the library”

Seeing she had problems on seeing details, despite her low light vision, she imagined how would Hunter feel near blind, and she started to sing again, this time what seemed a joyful song.

15:01, Today: Lirian rolled 1,10 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,(6+4)10.  Performance (casting Song of Light, 2PP). – 1,10

The area became illuminated, as the magic light began to bright (OOC: I guess the cellar is not larger than a Large Blast Template, otherwise she’d cast it as mobile to the top end of her staff)

Lirian illuminates the giant hole left from fire. The elementals finish off what's left of the fire before turning into little piles of water. Inside Lirian can see that this area appears to be very dusty even with the fire and smoke. Most of the books down here have bot been touched for sometime leaving her to believe the Elysia is unaware of this location. Judging from the area above where the bookshelf moves it appears its been hidden for a long time.

Everything seems rather normal but strangely enough inside she notices there is a specific case with a glass jar covering it. Looking inside she can see an ancient dagger that appears to be a normal dagger. Looking at the case itself, she notices it's locked. There is a keyhole at the very bottom of the glass which has chains that wrap around the glass.

Meanwhile

While the guards and loading the creature they finally get it inside of a cage. It takes about two or three men to haul it inside of the cage and then lock it on the back of a wagon which is using two horses. The guards start the trip heading towards the middle of town to the gates of the castle.

Kai looks on incredulously as Hunter drops down into the pit.  "Gods above!  What are you doing?!  This place is about to come down!  You looking for a deeper grave?"


Kai lets out a harsh whistle.  "Jenkins!  Get over here!  And bring some rope!"


Even with the light, the dust and smoke made seeing down in the pit almost impossible, but then Kai spots a mop of red hair.  "Lirian?!  Gods, we're supposed to be rescuing other people, not each other!"

"JENKINS!"

Lirian looked at the dagger.  She had a strange feeling about it, and her previous experience with trying to open the tomb didn’t help…  “I guess we better don’t touch it she told Hunter. “I have a bad feeling about this dagger and the lock…


She began to move to the stairs to search the dead end. She felt there might be an exit there, and that they have found a library’s treasure. “Will at the end of the day the Jester’s fire open us to more information instead of denying us or it?” she wondered. “I’d call it poetic justice” she kept thinking with a smile.

As she was moving up the stairs, cautious as they seemed old, she heard Kai above


“I had no way up, so I decided to go down, but we’re safe now, don’t worry” she answered. “There seem to be interesting things here, though. Could you please call Elysia? She must know about this… ”

As she reached the end of the stairs, she began testing the walls, hitting them with her staff looking for any hollow sound or anything that could mean a hidden door or exit there could be there…

16:06, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 4,3 using d6-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 5,4.  Notice: looking for hidden/secret rolls. -1 for fatigue, I understand. – 4,3. Success if no negative DMs apply. GM will tell the meaning.

(BTW, I forgot the -1 on casting the Song of Light, but it meant no difference, being a success with a raise)

"Nervermind! Don't panic Kai, Aeryss has rope" Hunter called up.

"Thanks for the light. I just wanted him here because he can see better in the dark" he said conversationalist, helping the bard search. "I didn't see what was happening to the Jester, we were walking down the road when we saw the library on fire. I saw the body and heard something going on, but I was too busy fighting the fire. You know, if it gets away, we can follow it and find it later, bit if this place burns down that's not something we can rectify in a day or two."

"Anyway, what I want to know is, well, I want to be certain this place is self contained and doesn't connect to the sewers somehow. Where did the Jester come from, did he enter from the street or did he just appear in the libraru somewhere?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 15:28, Thu 04 Jan.

As Lirian is moving around trying to figure out what activates the bookcase she hits on a torch near the bottom of the stairs that isn't lit. Fiddling around she notices that there is no oil but instead it seems the torch seems to turn on the wall to the side. A loud click can be heard from inside of the wall and all the sudden gears start turning. Up above near Kai he notices a whole bookshelf move to the side leading to a way down below where Lirian is. It seems the bookshelf is a false wall.

“It seems we won’t need the rope” Alice said, seeing the way open. “I guess Elysisa and her aides should inventory what’s down below, as it seems the library had more than they knew… All seems old and not touched in a longtime, judging from the dust”

She then returned downstairs to look at what she had found there (which books were there, what were they about, how old they seemed, etc)

[Private to GM: She also keeps an eye on Hunter (and more so Jenkins, if he has heard the call and approached) to avoid him (them) taking anything, as she didn’t fully trust who seems to be the master of the goblin thief (and not at all the goblin himself)]

Piper thought for a moment, then laid out a proposition for Quentin.

"Why don't Mosii and I follow the wagon.  We can confirm it makes it to the castle, or keep track of it if it doesn't for some reason.  You can get back to the others and arrange for folks to use Hunter's letter to visit this Stonecroft.  That should help avoid making completely empty promises to him in the event this creature doesn't make it to the king for any reason.  At least then we could offer up an explanation."

Jenkins was getting bored. They weren't even torturing the thing, just putting it in a cage. She headed back towards the library, wanting to see the insides and all the damage that had been done. Then a sudden thought struck her: there might be more fried ratsies in there! Tasty crispy fried ratsies!

Hurrying back, she heard people calling her name and broke into a run.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:40, Thu 04 Jan.

I'm panicking?  Kai was incredulous.  "You two are in a hole inside a burning -- er, burnt building.  If the floor collapsed, the roof could too."

He looks over to Aeryss.  "You have rope?  You know you could have told me before I started yelling for that little green frog."

"Yes I still have it."  Aeress dug it out.  "Do you see anything good to anchor it to?  Or shall we not bother?"

Hunter walks around down below hitting and kicking walls and stomping occasionally.

"What are you doing?" Jenkins asked, when she finally arrived.

"Looking for a way into the sewers from here. I think there might be an entrance, but I can\t find it. You have a look" Hunter replied.

"No, of course there isn't, any fool can see that. This is a basement. Oooh! Nice dagger! Shiny!" Jenkins rushed over to the glass case and began inspecting it, looking for traps before she smashed her way in.

"No! No! Bad dagger! Not for you! Out! Out! Come on, let's get some fresh air, it stinks in here."

"Stinks like your burnt underclothes. I likes it!" Jenkins muttered under her breath. "Nice dagger! Good dagger! Good size for Goblin, make good sword."

"Out! Don't be too long Liriam, we need to see Stonecroft.
"OUT, you!" he said, blocking the goblin and shepherding him up the stairs.




17:16, Today: Hunter Gallagher rolled 1,1 using d6-1,d8-1, rerolling max with rolls of 2,2.  Hunter Notice:  searching for access to sewers .
17:18, Today: Hunter Gallagher rolled 1,2 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,2.  Jenkins notice

Quentin is still not quite sure about that light of an escort, but deciding that maybe he's just too pessimistic, he does as he's told, getting back to the library to check on Hunter. As he turns and walks back, he looks for possible agents of the invasion (or whatever that is), but ultimately is unable to pinpoint any of the numerous spectators as warranting particular interest.

Quentin is surprised by what he sees at the library. "Hey, Hunter?! Lirian?! Is everyone allright?!" He also looks at Kai, Aeress and Elysia to comment on the issue.

Once he learns that people are allright, he proceeds with Piper's proposal: "The guards have packed the thing and are hauling it towards the castle. It is still not dead yet after I've burned it well and good, so highly interesting, but they could not let me lay hands on it. Piper suggests we should go meet with Roland Stonecroft and tell him stuff and maybe ask him for some assistance on that or some other issues."

12:52, Today: Secret Roll: Quentin Fox rolled 2,2 using 1d6-1,1d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 3,3.  Notice any suspicious persons maybe.

"Let's go outside. This damn smoke's getting to me" Hunter said, heading out the door before answering Quentin.

"My Cousin Sheldon said we wouldn't be able to see the King. Best we can do is to see one of his advisors, and he gave me the name Roland Stonecraft, and a piece of paper with his address. But he said we can't just go there with hearsay and stories, we need hard evidence before he'll listen to us. Then he'll take us seriously amd we will be paid attention to rapidly."

"I was thinking, can you repeat that trick with the growing rat? Have you got any stuff left? Pipers cat could catch another rat...

"No, not a growing rat, really, that stuff's used up, but I've got a full bottle of... wildfire? Not sure what it is, hasn't taken the time to analyze it. And the book stating that they can make amounts of wildfire without leaving the sewers. That maybe should pass for some news."

"That's enough to get in the door, surely. After that we have a lot to talk about."

“A connection with sewers? I guess we cannot rule it out…” Lirian thought, hearing the talk among Hunter and Jenkins. “Dust made me think no one has been here for time, but the collapse has brought enough dust itself to hide any tracks… It may be worth to look at it before light fades.”

So Lirian joined in looking for any hidden entrance from the sewers

12:37, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 2,1 using d6-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 3,2.  Notice: looking for hidden/secret rolls. -1 for fatigue, I understand. – 2,1 Failure. If there’s any such door, it is quite well hidden seeing Hunter, Jenkins and Lirian rolls ;)

Seeing no sigh of such an entrance, Lirian followed Hunter and Jenkins upstairs and joined the rest of the team.

“There’s a good collection of old books down there. I guess you should look at them as they are part of the library collection” she told to Elysia. “There’s also a strange dagger locked with chains in a glass jar. I didn’t try to open it, as my last attempt to do something like this was not a good experience” she added with a smile. “By the way, do you have my lute, don’t you?” Lirian tried to recover her belongings.

Then she turned to Jenkins. “This is yours, and I promised to return it” she said her, returning the pendant from the maps shop. “Now I need some fresh air .” She moved outside. “And I guess a new cloak…” she added , with a sad smile, seeing her old one, now beaten and half burnt

Elysia greets the characters with a very big smile.

"Thank you my friends for helping save the library. We will have rebuild parts but you are heroes through and through. I am so sorry about the trouble you have been thrown in but if you need something, please seek me out. I will aid you as best as I can."

With Quentin in agreement, Piper held on as Mosii scaled the nearby architecture and got them back up high, where they could follow the wagon's progress on the way to the castle.

"Hey Jenkins, have you got any water in that bag?" Rummaging through it Hunter found a waterskin and drank deeply, then offered it round. "Did anyone get burnt? Or hurt?"

Huner coughed, and looked ruefully at his shiny new armour, already blackened, singed and tatty. "I just never seemed to be able to keep things shiny." He shrugged out of his coat of plates and let it cool.

He dug out the piece of paper with the address and handed it to Quentin.  "I'm good to go as soon as I've got my breath back."

OOC: Good to move on, I think? Once we're not fatigued any more..."

“Please, Elysia, keep us informed about what’s on this just discovered cellar. I’m curious about it” Lirian asked, before exiting the library looking for some fresh air, taking her lute and bow with her. There she heard the others’ talk.

She looked at them all. Though she was the one most affected (after her hand to hand firefighting and her sliding down to the cellar), everyone (maybe but Piper) was dirty, sweaty and smelling to smoke. “Not that I disagree about going to talk with this one Stionecraft” she said, “but are you sure we’re currently in shape to visit a Royal advisor? I guess we’d better return to the tavern to clean ourselves and arrange us a little, if we want to be taken seriousl As we look now, I doubt the guards even let us to show any letter of introduction... ”
This message was last edited by the player at 19:34, Sat 06 Jan.

"Elysia? Could you perhaps write us a quick letter of introduction to Roland Stonecroft  stating we have been researching a cure and the origins of this ...plague..., and thanking us for assisting with the fire?" Hunter asked.

He looked at Liriam. "We have come direct from fighting a fire that almost burnt the entire library down. Quentin is rather concerned that the Jester rat thing may escape or be rescued or released en route to the palace. Is that reason enough to be dirty and covered in soot, or should we retire first for a bath and a clean set of clothes? Not that my other clothes are much better."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:17, Sat 06 Jan.

Kai snorts derisively.  "We ain't no fancy-pants nobility.  We work for a living.  Let's just go there and tell him what we know.  If he has a problem with it, we'll go wash our dainties and wait for him to invite us for tea."

Quentin looks himself up and down and finds his looks at least satisfactory. "I hope this man will want things done, in which case he'll want to be informed swiftly. If he would care much about the rat-fighters' looks, he might turn out to be as useless as local city guard. In either case, I might be the one to do the talking, I haven't participated in the firefighting that much and am still in good shape."

So, the team voting "let's go".

“Well, it’s clear I’m in minority” Lirian said after hearing the others’ arguments. “So let’s go, but let me at least refresh a little.”

She tried to whip the dust out of her and went to a fountain (if there’s one, otherwise to one of the water buckets remaining) to wash at least her face and hands. Then, seeing her hair smoked and tangled, she braided it, again unconsciously humming some song as she did. She drank a little water to clear her throat and voice.

She arranged as she could her clothing and hung the bow on her back while taking the lute and testing it. “I’m ready, unless you want to at least rest a little before. I guess it would do good to all of us…”

Be it while resting or while walking (team’s decision, though she’d suggest at least to allow fatigue to wear off) she began playing the lute and softly singing to calm herself.

18:52, Today: Secret Roll: Lirian rolled 3,0 using d8-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 4,1.  Perform (playing the lute. Just RPG meaning). – 3,0

As she begin so sing, smoke still on her throat made her cough. Frustrated for it, she hung the lute on her back and stopped, though soon she was unconsciously whistling a song anyway…
This message was last edited by the player at 17:57, Sun 07 Jan.

"There is some benefit to an immediate followup.  Our rough state might make us all the more convincing.  It would also be a shame if the Jester creature were to be spirited away from us."  Aeress decided.  "We should find out more about the strangeness down there however."

Elysia shakes her head at Lirian and agrees. "I'll see what I can do with the basement."

While she is talking to Lirian she listens to Hunters requests and gets a piece of parchment to scribble something down. She gives the advisor information about what has happen and what she has seen. She also includes all the findings that the team has managed to come up with so far in their journey based upon what she knows.

She has the piece of paper over to Hunter which is quickly snatched by his goblin. She smells the paper and looks to almost consider eating it before Elysia gives a half scared smile. The goblin gives the paper over to hunter.

OOC: we will continue in Chapter 1: Scene 6: The Royal Alchemist