Exploration
16/3/10,122 - Athalau
Through the silent streets Kilite wound his way with the hovering form of Erimmes by his side, as they approach what Erimmes indicates is his former chambers, a large drab single storey building within the temple square, Kilite continues to probe for further information concerning Athalau & in particular what Erimmes hopes to find within, for the first time Erimmes drops the continual barrage of lured suggestions, as he is unable to contain his excitement to press on. Kilite notes that Erimmes, whilst not solid, is no longer opaque, reaching forward his outstretched hand can now almost grasp substance, Erimmes is delighted exclaiming he can feel Kilite's touch. Unnerved by Erimmes change in attitude Kilite, after a brief once over of the buildings main chamber & cells returns, to the protests of Erimmes,to the find the others.
Completing their search of the Palace of Esoteric wisdom, the three are joined by Kilite & to Erimmes delight head back towards his former quarters. After the ornate & delicate stonework of the buildings so far, the starkness of Erimmes scholarly chambers significantly standout. The rectangular building comprises a single pillared chamber with many small cells accessed through arched openings around its perimeter. Under Erimmes direction they enter one of the cells which Erimmes quietly tells was his own, like the others it is unimpressive, roughly eight feet by four with a stone cot and a small window opening admitting the pail soft artificial glow from without.
Urged on by Erimmes the group cross the main foyer towards a slightly larger opening in the west wall, beyond the archway are the remains of many collapsed shelves, the floor is littered with the remains of, what on closer examination, are flasks similar to that which contains Erimmes spirit. Sifting through the debris several intact flasks are located however in only one is there a stopper.
Lifting one of the whole but empty flasks above his head Kilite brings it down with a crash to the floor, unsurprisingly it does not shatter confirming the his thoughts regarding its, & Erimmes flask, magical enhancement.
Lifting the flask Illyra carefully eases out its stopper; slowly a pale green mist emerges & coalesces to the form of a middle aged female dressed in habit & wimple. The smile upon her face slowly turns to a look of horror as her eyes take in the devastation around her; questioningly she looks to the friends & begs for news of her home city. An hour or so later, Magda, as she introduces herself, finishes telling of her life & dedication to the following of Erimmes the Ethical & the order of abstinence which his, her & her fellow acolytes had devoted their lives. With many a look towards Erimmes as her storey is told they eventually introduce Magda to her beloved leader, with a sweeping bow Erimmes can contain himself no longer & smiles magnanimously towards her, falling to her knees before him she begs for forgiveness for her thoughts during her encasement within the flask that maybe, just maybe it had all been for nothing.
Leaving the philosophers home they look towards what Magda advises is the Ruby tower, Magda tells that the tower was still under construction when last she left her flask, however she recalls that its purpose was to protect the city against the encroaching glacier. Skirting the pillars of ice, which stretch from cavern floor to roof & the numerous icefalls, which litter the bombarded city below the they head towards the indicated tower.
As they approach it becomes clear that the soft light that fills the vast cavern emanates from the onion shaped dome atop the three hundred feet tall tower.
Circling the tower, which is some thirty feet across & stands atop a spiralling paved podium, four huge arched doors are visible, one at each point of the compass, to the left of each door stands a huge statue, armour encased, bearing an enormous halberd. Warily Kilite mounts the podium & ignoring the path heads directly for one of the pair of doors. As the others look on he reaches forward & attempts to push the doors open, horrified they watch as the animated guardian's halberd blade drop towards Kilite. Instinctively Kilite leaps backwards as the door fails to move & the silently falling halberd blade misses by a whisker. Initially the blade appears to have penetrated the top step however inspection of the three other thresholds reveal a carefully cut slot some two inches from the base of the door.
Having r retreating back down to the others Kilite again strides for the tower, this time however carefully walking the spiralling path; by now the guardians halberd has returned to its original "ready" position. Hoping the correct ascendance of the podium will negate any further negative reaction Kilite again touches the closed doors, only to have to again sharply step back to avoid the devastating drop of the mighty blade. This time however the halberd immediately rises & the figure turns towards Kilite swinging a second blistering horizontal blow. Whether through a miss timed blow or poor skill the halberd thunders above his head & crashes into the stone doors. As the halberd rises for a third time Kilite stumbles away & down the podiums steeply stepped sides, falling the last few feet. As Kilite lies spluttering in the dirt, the towers guardian turns & retakes its position to the left of the door.
By know convinced they are obviously not intended to enter the tower Illyra & Tharla, along with their new companion Magda, leave Kilite & Molin, to continue their search of Athalau's abandoned streets. Heading back towards the artisans quarter they are diverted by Magda into one of the cities former libraries. A brief search indicates a planned departure as elsewhere; however excess books, tombs & scrolls have been left & like other organic material found within the city walls they have suffered the ravages of time. On the verge of moving on, they find a small casket beneath a pile of rotted papers, opening the cask reveals two scrolls in pristine condition, with a glance towards Illyra, Tharla casts a spell of identification on the scrolls which reveals them to be a scroll of knowledge & inner strength respectively. Without hesitation they make themselves comfortable & each read one of the scrolls. Immediately Illyra feels a surge of power cursing through her very being whilst Tharla feels her mind expand to a new level of understanding.
As they move on Illyra catches a sound carrying across the city, suspecting trouble Tharla agrees to return to the tower whilst Illyra & Magda press on. Casting mind speech in order to remain in contact with Illyra before departing, Tharla returns to the Ruby tower to see Kilite nursing many newly acquired cuts & bruises, but, still determined to gain entry to the tower, hatching further plans with Molin.
As Tharla looks on disapprovingly Kilite again approaches the closed double doors & having activated the guardian precedes to lead the golem around the tower, once Molin is convinced the guardians halberd is safely out of the way he sprints to the doors & placing his hands upon them finds they effortlessly swing open & without hesitation leaps into the confines of the tower.
As Molin touches the doors handle & disappears from view Tharla can see the golem reacts instantly & swings around to return to the open portal, before both she or Kilite can react the golem reaches the doors & slams them shut before returning to its vigil.
Inside the tower Molin stands agog & looks around, the walls are bare but highly polished, far above can be seen some sort of metal framework supporting what he assumes is the source of the towers power, indeed the light emanating from the tower feels much more intense without being any the brighter. Turning Molin is just in time to see the doors swing closed imprisoning him within the tower, surprisingly however he appears calm, unnaturally so despite his entrapment, particularly when he realises that all trace of both his door of entry & the three other doors are absent.