#126 - Reprieve

Zarantyr 25th, 999 YK

The battle raged on, but diminished to mostly one front. Bale continued to bait and sling his dark eldritch blasts at the gnolls who disengaged from whatever it was that was occupying them at large. Hidden within a sphere of darkness, he pulled both Magnus and Clarion along as they fought against the gnolls with equal parts advantage and frustration.

Cypher soon reappeared, stepping out of the portal that Aleae had been eyeing. He called to his companions, trying to rally them into a retreat and insisting that he had reconnecting with Elidac and the other wizards. Some sort of reprieve was being offered, if only they would follow him into the portal.

This took some time. Bale was reluctant to lose his strategic engagements, but the truth was that more and more enemies were coming—gnolls continued to approach. Harpies began to arrive and with their luring songs they even ensnared, briefly, both Cypher and Aleae. The eladrin was pulled back from exposing herself to the gnolls' attacks by the serpentine coils of Arafin, while Cypher suffered injuries for his temporary trance.

Magnus, Clarion, and Bale made corpses of many gnolls, and even a handful of their pet hyenas, while Cypher and Wynn did what they could to hurry the group into its retreat. A scimitar-wielding harpy, one the party had fought earlier but did not slay, even joined the fray.

Eventually the party did retreat in full, and one by one stepped through the mist portal that had sprung out of nowhere. An Arcane Gate, it brought each of the PCs through inter-dimensional space....

....to a floating chunk of rock high above the ground near the wizards' citadel, which itself floated in the interior of Glyphstone Keep's above-ground levels. It was a cavernous, outdoor-seeming space enclosed by the walls of the fortress but open, in parts, to the night sky. Stars winked through the gaps in the vault, while the Lharvion, the Eye—a dull white moon slitted with black—shone upon them. The rock they had landed upon was smooth at its top and had plenty of space to fit everyone—even Arafin, who coiled up and looked uneasy in such an open space.

The party was still uncertain about withdrawing from the battle, though their wounds were glad for this moment to regroup. One hundred feet away, they could see another raised platform illuminated by magelights, and could see figures moving around there. Elidac and his wizards.

A woman floated over to them, carried on currents of magic through the open air. It was Charise, the Cyran, who was also one of the powerful wizards residing up here in Glyphstone's above-ground remains. The party—discounting Wynn, Izzeth, and Bale who were both newcomers—had last seen Charise and the others of Elidac's conclave, several days before when they had been sent off to seek out Talor "the Justicator." She was middle-aged, short of hair, and her attire was more akin to a swashbuckler's than a traditional wizard's robes, and she wore a half-mask for reasons unknown. Those who remembered her recalled that hers was the "memory" scene that took place in one of Cannith's secret forgeholds.

Quickly, Charise explained that it was the disturbing of the Cauldron—and the energies surrounding it—that had triggered their awareness of the party. More importantly, Charise said that her cohort, the wizard Garrek, had requested interference on their behalf. When she first opened the Arcane Gate, she had beckoned Cypher through it and asked him, "Is it true that there is a Captain Dennavar among them?" When he didn't know how to respond, she clarified: "Captain Wynn Dennavar."

To this he confirmed, and so Charise had said, "Elidac has granted permission to afford you temporary sanctuary—we will return you again, when ready. Hurry, gather you companions.”

And so now they were all here, standing, fidgeting, or pacing around this large floating rock. With a gesture, a dome of energy encircled most of the it. "Elidac has been enspelled this space with an arcane matrix that delays time itself," she explained. "For every hour that passes within, only a  minute will pass without. If you choose to rest, you may do so here. When you are ready, no longer than three hours from now, we can return you to a place of your choosing."

The party had questions, of course, and Wynn was insistent upon seeing the wizard Garrek, but Charise waved it all away for now. "I will speak with Elidac and tell you what we learn."

She gave them a handful of "spare" scrolls for their use, and a curious book. Concerning the latter, she said, “This book offers requires a little bit of risk, but from what I understand, can provide some benefit—even in so short a time as now. It will do you no harm. But it’s from Zilargo.” She winked, then left them to it.

As Charise floated away from the rock, allowing them to take what rest they wanted, a couple of figures appeared across the distance, standing at the edge of their own platform. Backlit by magelights, they were robed man. Wynn stood and watched them, clearly anxious to make contact. One of the figures waved sadly, then turned away.

Cypher looked at the book Charise had given them. Its title was The Book of Inquiry: Trust, and the Examination of Remunerative Truths and Gainful Slights. He found that it would not open in the middle, only to the very first page. Within was an inscription: "Property of the Library of Korranberg. 972 Year of the Kingdom."

If the date was accurate, the book was created 27 years ago, long before the destruction of Cyre or the end of the Last War. In 972 YK, even the warforged were new to the world. What was a book owned from the Library of Korranberg doing here? These wizards had certainly accumulated strange treasures, and has unknowable resources.

Beneath the label was the following text.

"The instructions are simple. Turn the page and a question will appear. It must be asked of one of your companions and answered truthfully. They, in turn, must turn to the following page and ask the next question of another companion, until all of them have been answered and every companion has answered at least twice, if possible. Any lie spoken or question declined will render this examination a failed one. Acquiescence, however, may reward you. Think carefully. Do not answer in haste, only in truth."

In smaller text was written at the bottom of the instructions page:

"It is the author’s personal advice that this book be reserved only for the most amiable of dinner parties."