Planescape: Center of All - IC

[Archmage1]

Eilyra looks up at the Mercane, with a smile. "Oh, a few. The elemental planes, Shadow, Prime material, the Grey Wastes. Possibly more, assuming we can come to an agreement around price."

[kinem]

The Mercane replies "You understand, the cost is not so much for crafting the fork itself. It takes a deal of research to find out what kind of fork fits each plane, and to verify that the fork works as intended. My forks aren't cheap, but they come with my personal guarantee.

Two thousand for an elemental plane, three for Shadow and the Waste. Primes vary: One thousand for a more common one in terms of forks, up to five for a rare one."

[Archmage1]

Eilyra frowns at the cost, but nods slowly. "That does seem rather expensive. Would it be possible to inspect them, and to see what you are willing to sell, to allow us to better assess our budget against our needs?" Those prices are well beyond what they are worth, but depending on what metal they're made from, I may be able to polymorph some. Alternatively, fabricate with the appropriate tooling would work, but that runs into the problem of actually learning fabricate.

[kinem]

The merchant replies "You can take a look, sure. No borrowing, though."

He opens a chest and takes out a Handy Haversack, then takes some tuning forks out of that.

He shows you forks of copper, zinc, lead, and tin. "Fire, Earth, Water, Air." He taps them and they each emit a tone.

Then steel, iron, and lead. "A Prime, the Waste, and Shadow."

[Archmage1]

Eilyra does her best to memorize the appearance and tone of the demonstrated forks, and nods. "Ok. Assuming we can come to an agreement on cost... let's say, the four elementals, a prime..." She looks thoughtful for a few moments, as she considers which prime, before she contines. "Have you, by chance, of Bavia? I've heard some interesting tales, and it would serve as an interesting test of a fork, The Astral, the waste, and the shadow."

[kinem]

The Mercane says "Bavia? Yes, I know of it. Home to mechanical marvels such as vehicles powered by flame. I've not seen the like elsewhere; actually most of it doesn't seem to work even on other Primes.

But ... from what I've heard, it's become a war-torn land. The humans on that Prime have turned their wonders against each other, fighting about which king to bow to. Not a happy place. You wouldn't want to go there.

But the fork, that's a rare one. Five thousand."

[Archmage1]

Eilyra shrugs. "War is, after all, opportunity." She smiles, marginally, before turning her attention back to the Mercane. "Now, for the eight forks, what would you say to eleven thousand gold? After all, Bavia seems to be offering a limited return on your investment, and the others are common enough..."

[kinem]

The Mercane replies "I would say that's not enough. I'm a patient man, and I'm sure that the forks will sell eventually.

However ... since you are buying in bulk, I'll cut you a deal. Seventeen. Fair?"

[Cavir]

Avakuss was listening intently to the conversation with Imao. As progression was being made, Avakuss spoke up politely. "While we are at it, I'm also looking for a pair of Center Stones, used for enhancing one's mind in meditation. Do you carry them? Would be great to throw that into the deal."

[kinem]

The Mercane says "Hmm ... I may have a few." He looks through his inventory.

"You're in luck. Very well, I'll throw in the stones. Deal?"

[Toliudar]

Ash

Staying by the entrance to the stall to watch for trouble from outside, Ash simply sends to her colleagues telepathically. *It seems an expedient deal. I can stake half of that, if need be.*

[Archmage1]

Sensing agreement from her allies, Eilyra nods. "Yes, I do believe we have a deal."

[kinem]

Center picked up a bag at Joel's which he used to carry his loot.

Once the payment is given and counted, the Mercane hands over the agreed-upon items. "Good doing business with you! I hope you succeed in your goals and will return to buy more."

[Archmage1]

Eilyra accepts the forks, and slips them away. "Indeed. And may your own business flourish." With that, she goes to depart, heading for the portal to Pandemonium. Along the way, once we escape the crowds, she quietly speaks. "And to Pandemonium once more. I think a couple of hours there, then a couple of hours reading through the books would be the next step for us."

[Cavir]

Outside the shop Avakuss nods in agreement with the plan "Beware of rocks and other things being blown along in the tunnels. Hopefully nothing has already taken refuge in the library."

Spoiler: OOC

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Just before going through the portal:
1) Renew Inertial Armor: +13 AC for 19 hours for 19PP. Using Feat Psychic Meditation (Third Eye Energy Center) to pay for the PP.
2) Use Cognizance Crystal (5pp) for Vigor giving 25 temporary hp, lasts 19min.
My other long term powers (38 hours) should still be active (checking in OOC post)

[Toliudar]

Ash

ASh nods.

*Sounds good. If we haven't found an additional portal after a few hours in Pandemonium and a few hours of reading, we'll be ready to move on.*

[kinem]

The party leaves the market and heads back to the portal.

Center prefers to leave his loot in his room at the Black Sail. Since he can teleport himself at will, this is not difficult, as he simply teleports there and rejoins the group shortly. Before entering the gate he casts Magic Circle Against Chaos, and after entering the tunnel, he resumes his normal (large) form.

As before, the wind in the tunnel is quite annoying, howling loudly and blowing grit into your faces.

You know that the cavern that leads to the now looted library is about 100' upwind of the portal ...

[Archmage1]

Just before passing through the portal, Eilyra casts extended arcane sight before looking around the immediate area, then stepping through, and looking around once more.

[kinem]

Everything looks the same as you last saw it so far.

[Archmage1]

With a shrug, and a look at her companions, Eilyra heads down the tunnel, continuing to survey the area, intending to move past the entrance to the library, and continue down the tunnel, on the theory that maybe the other portal is mirrored.

[Cavir]

Just before stepping through the portal Avakuss heightens his senses. In the tunnel he looks downwind first, then upward for the mark he has previously made on the wall (redoing if need be), then upwind. The goliath will lead the way to the entrance of the cavern and look inside. Eilyra's intent to continue onward surprised him, but he half nodded / half tilted his head to say ok. He looked to the others to ensure they were onboard.

Spoiler: OOC

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Steadfast Perception extended 9PP for 6.3 hours.

[kinem]

As the party proceeds down the tunnel, the wind is fairly steady most of the time, but it suddenly surges to a tremendous speed, sweeping most of the party off their feet and causing people to smash into the side of the tunnel.

This happens once more after you pass the cavern.

OOC: (2d10)[8] damage, Reflex half DC 22; DR applies
(2d10)[10] damage, Reflex half DC 22; DR applies

There is nothing of note even 100' past the cavern, but as you explore about another 100' further, you discover a side tunnel that branches off from the main tunnel. The side tunnel leads to a closed and decorated stone door much like the one that led into the library.

Spoiler: Ash

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With Mindsight you detect a great many aberrations of animal intelligence (2) beyond the doorway. It must be some kind of swarm.

[Archmage1]

Seeing another door, Eilyra frowns. It does make sense that there are other chambers here. The library, while a good library, was missing a few things for sustaining life. Of course, this does mean that one of these rooms, and there may well be more, is likely to hold food, which means potential enemies, but hey, only one way to find out.

As she thinks, Eilyra looks over the door, searching for any traps and checking if the only lock was a similar hole in the center of the door.
(1d20+16)[29] Search

[kinem]

Eilyra doesn’t find any traps on the door.

There is a keyhole that looks to be the same size and kind as the one on the library door.

[Archmage1]

Eilyra looks to her companions, and shrugs, before pulling out the Lich's portal key, and trying it in the lock, to see if it would unlock the door.

[kinem]

The key fits in the lock. With a loud click, the ancient stone door would now seem to be unlocked once the key is turned.

[Archmage1]

Eilyra smiles grimly as the planar key the lich had works, before she relocks the door, and speaking, softly, almost inaudibly. "Isn't that interesting." She then looks to Center as she removes the key, and speaks, loudly enough to be easily heard this time. "Center, would you care to try the key you're holding?"

[Cavir]

Avakuss stands to the opening side of the door to be in a position to strike if trouble suddenly arises. He looks to Ash and asks just loud enough for her to hear. "Can you sense anything in there?" While waiting he listens at the door although the noise of the area hampers the effort.

Spoiler: OOC

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Listen (1d20+10)[30]

[Toliudar]

Ash

Ash nodded. She wove a pair of spells to augment her senses further, and stands a few feet from the door, her eyes darting over every detail.

Spoiler: OOC

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Okay! Back from a week in back country and online again.

Ash will cast True Sight and Analyze Portal. If the latter spell shows the existence of an interplanar portal in the room, she'll focus on it to get as much information as she can. Caster level checks vs DC 17 to gain this info auto-succeed.

She's also looking around with Greater Arcane Sight and Mindsight to analyze any magic auras in the room, and to see if there are hidden minds in or beyond the room.

Finally, she'll do a quick search for traps on the door itself: (1d20+37)[40]

[kinem]

Center pulls out the portal key, but shakes his head. What he has is a a black metal triangle, three inches across, with an inverted "Y" inlaid in copper. Unlike the portal key taken from the lich, it does not have an actual key (of the sort which can be inserted into a lock and turned) attached to it.

Spoiler: Ash

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As noted above, with Mindsight you detect a great many aberrations of animal intelligence (2) beyond the doorway. It must be some kind of swarm.

The door has not been opened, so it blocks the spells which rely on sight. There's no magic on the door itself.

Your search of the door does not reveal any traps.

Spoiler: Avakuss

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You think you hear some sort of motion from beyond the door, but you can't tell much else.