IC - [D&D 5E] Candlekeep Mysteries

[Dimers]

Glancing up from a close study of the map ...

Spoiler: either Investigation or History

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Same roll either way: (d20+5)[10]

... at an opportune moment, Eleazar notes his companion putting away a pouch he didn't recall seeing before. "What's in that, Patricia? Hopefully not another questionable statuette?"

[Archemist]

Glancing up from a close study of the map ...

Spoiler: either Investigation or History

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Same roll either way: [roll0]

... at an opportune moment, Eleazar notes his companion putting away a pouch he didn't recall seeing before. "What's in that, Patricia? Hopefully not another questionable statuette?"

Patricia mimics being offended, replying, "Oh, I wouldn't dream of such a thing. I simply figured since Sir Kynos was calling us that we'd best get a move on and look through all this later, don't you think? The books aren't going anywhere..." and here she pauses, "Well, for now, anyhow. Let's be off." She is already in motion towards the door.

[munimortal]

The map appears to be both accurate and extremely detailed. It is centered on Candlekeep and shows both the land to the east and sea to the west.

[Pyrophilios]

Kynos finally opened the door, walked down the corridor to the second door and opened it.

[munimortal]

Sir Kynos opens the next door down the hallway. This room contains a battered wooden mannequin holding a shield emblazoned with an eye, and a weapon rack holding staffs and daggers, all lit by indigo-tinted light streaming through a window. The floor is stained and scorched. At the far end of the room, a broom hovers in the air, sweeping the floor by itself!

Spoiler: Map

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Found a better source image!

[Pyrophilios]

"This looks like a training room - and if the books and that autonomous broom show us anything, I'd say it's that this dummy might come alive and try to force us into a duel."
Kynos commented on the display inside. Despite that, he took a careful step into the room.

[Dimers]

Eleazar nods slowly. "I think you're right. All the same ..." He cautiously approaches the mannequin, mace and shield readied. "I'd like a closer look at that glyph on the shield."

[Ramsus]

Lady Runa of House Ouss’viir Half-Orc Bard AC: 15 HP: 10/10 PP: 11 PIv: 10 PIs: 13 Conditions: -- Concentration: -- From behind Kynos, Runa calls out to the broom, "Hello there. I don't suppose you can talk? Or at least understand us?"

[munimortal]

There is no change in activity from the broom or the mannequin as you enter the room. The broom continues to sweep around you as you pass into the room.

[Pyrophilios]

Still wary and ready to dodge, Kynos moved closer to the dummy, touching it lightly with his sword on the head if it doesn't awake

[Archemist]

Patricia nods approvingly at Eleazar examining the glyph, but she warns Kynos, “Now now, Sir, we don’t want to provoke it into attacking if it’s just minding its business. The room looks great, by the way,” she adds, this last directed respectfully towards the broom.

Patricia’s skirts swish as she does a quick circuit of the room: checking out the practice area, peering out the window, and admiring her reflection in the glass.

[munimortal]

The mannequin remains unmoving when touched by Sir Kynos' sword. Out the window Patricia sees her own ghostly, indigo colored reflection, beyond which is only the swirling miasma that surrounds the mansion.

[Dimers]

Eleazar steps away from the dummy. "Does anyone mind if I take a few minutes to scan the room for magic? Well, for magic beyond the obvious, that is," he adds with a glance at the broom.

If there are no objections, Eleazar will cast detect magic as a ritual.

[Pyrophilios]

"Feel free to do so, it certainly seems as if there is a lot to discover."
Kynos replied, looking for practice weapons or other things useful for clearing the building of threats.

[munimortal]

Eleazar begins the ritual, as he does, Sir Kynos takes inventory of the room. There are four daggers, four quarterstaffs, and twenty darts in a bandolier hanging from one of the pegs. One wall holds diagrams of attack and parry positions for wielders of staffs and daggers.

Spoiler: OOC

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I will make another post later today with the results of the spell casting. What are Lady Runa and Patricia up to during these ten minutes? Also Eleazar did you take the map from the last room?

[Dimers]

After several minutes of low, practiced-sounding chanting, Eleazar widens his eyes. "That shield is powerfully magical! Same general class of magic as the broom, so perhaps a 'dancing shield' that animates to protect its bearer? Would anyone care to test that idea while my spell is still active?"

[Pyrophilios]

"Sure" Kynos replied, put away his sword and gripped the shield, trying to dislodge it from the dummy - wary that it could come to life and try to smack him over the head.

[munimortal]

The dummy remains motionless, and the shield feels lighter in your hands than you would have expected.

[Pyrophilios]

Kynos took the shield up, trying to find out if it had some magic properties.
"Anything I should look out for here? Hopefully this thing isn't cursed."

[Pyrophilios]

Kynos turned the shield in his hand and stared at the emblem, understanding dawning on his face:
"OH! How could I not recognize this at once. This is an older symbol of the Watchers. That is a Sentinel Shield. It warns you of impending danger and keeps you alert. I assume no-one else needs a shield?"

[Ramsus]

Lady Runa of House Ouss’viir Half-Orc Bard AC: 15 HP: 10/10 PP: 11 PIv: 10 PIs: 13 Conditions: -- Concentration: -- Runa shakes her head, "I'm afraid I wouldn't know what to do with one dear."

[Archemist]

Patricia comes over and briefly picks up the shield daintily with her fingers, as if it were something slightly gross, but quickly hands it back to Kynos, saying, "No, it's not my style, my dear."

[Pyrophilios]

"Right, so just let me strap this on." Kynos replaced his current shield with the new one, putting the old one on his back.
"Alright, unless one of you has found something, I'd say this room is clear. On to the next one - unless you want to take a quick break for me to atune to this shield."

[munimortal]

The party heads back into the hallway and heads to the next door on their left. This door is partly ajar, and when opened reveals a room where the entire far wall of this room is a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf. Even more books are resting on several large scarlet armchairs and small wooden tables, and there are several paintings on the walls: a landscape scene with a large green dragon emerging from a grove of pine trees, a study of a Pegasus in flight, and a portrait of a unicorn in a wooded glade. A fluffy black cat is curled up on one of the chairs. The cat's eyes open as you enter the room, it stretches and mews expectantly.

Spoiler: map

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[Archemist]

A fluffy black cat is curled up on one of the chairs. The cat's eyes open as you enter the room, it stretches and mews expectantly.

Patricia goes over and skritches the cat.

[Ramsus]

Lady Runa of House Ouss’viir Half-Orc Bard AC: 15 HP: 10/10 PP: 11 PIv: 10 PIs: 13 Conditions: -- Concentration: -- "Oh, hello kitty. Ah wait, I don't think you can understand me yet can you?" Runa says and then begins strumming her lute with a tune that sounds a little bit like "meow meow meow meow". Spoiler Show Ritual casting Speak with Animals

[munimortal]

The black cat arches it back as Patricia approaches, letting out a angry sounding mowl. As Patricia reaches a blue claw out to pet the cat, it hisses and swats at her, missing, but enough to send a message. The cat hops down, and is about to run from the room, when Runa starts playing. It tilts its head to the side, its fur settles down and the cat stays put near the doorway.

Spoiler: cat noises

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiA2rJWMtBk

[Pyrophilios]

Kynos stepped forward, ignoring the cat for now and inspected the bookshelves - ready for another animated cloud of books to descent upon him.
"I wonder why there is more than one room dedicated for those books - are they for different topics?"

Spoiler

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Investigation

(1d20)[12]+1

[Dimers]

"Often true," Eleazar replies while starting to scan the titles. "Other libraries arrange materials by acquisition -- when they arrived, what librarian processed them, or who paid for them. Smaller collections can get away with purely title or author organization, though I doubt that's the case here."

Spoiler: Does anything stand out about the books here?

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I imagine it took more than a minute to move on to this room, so detect magic is no longer running. But is there any title that catches my eye, or anything unusual about the arrangement?

[munimortal]

As Lady Runa prepares her spell, Eleazar and Sir Kynos begin too look through the books on the bookshelves. The tomes appear unremarkable at first, but you quickly realize that all the books have the same author, Fistandia. The titles suggest numerous studies on magical, political, historical and religious topics, as well as numerous memoirs.