Majorie is alive and with her tribe, so the Party decides to go do some social networking by rescuing A.R.N. The first few rooms of the mansion of A.R.N. nearly kill us.
We stayed a night at The Hunter's Table, a sort of guild bar in Setton.
We learn of an artist, A.R.N., who has gone missing in their mansion. Their contact, Winifold, has requested we find A.R.N. Do we go for A.R.N. first or Majorie?
We bought two scrolls of Sending, to use to contact Majorie. And got a bonus one, to contact Guleva.
Ryltar made friends with Guleva, the spell scroll scribe, and learned her Teleportation Circle.
Salris has swapped to the Celestial patron associated with the mysterious Celestial Knife. And he's regained all the memories of how and why he stabbed a celestial innkeeper, who later gave us the title to the Regular Inn. The dagger has taken the form of a +2 Beautiful Khopesh (longsword, light), and now it has a white hilt.
A white hilt: the fourth star in the prophecy?
The message to Majorie
Glad tidings of your safety.
Would like to meet tribe.
In Setton. Shall we visit?
Employment options in Quadroads, ¿desired?
Beware dragons, Guleva, Hunter's Table.
The reply:
That would be well. Please visit. I would very much enjoy showing you my tribe.
We know that Majorie is in the Kulahar Wilds. And we don't know anything about where she is, or what her "tribe" is. But we know she's alive. At the moment.
And so, while Majorie is still Motherly Concerned&tm;, she's okay with going to find A.R.N.
Where to find A.R.N.?
We decide that we should go find Winifold, save A.R.N., and do some professional networking.
Winifold had told us to find him in the third house on the right-hand street, on the plateau above the river. So we follow the street up the river, and enter the more-jungled areas of Setton. The road turns into switchbacks, leading up onto the plateau. The roads are nicely paved, the ground is paved with tiled, and the houses are expensive-looking. We follow the road, and find the described house.
It's a tall, think townhouse, not very decorated, but so clean and presentable that it feels decadent.
Ryltar uses the doorknocker. It's beautifully and simply crafted, but it's no bellpull.
Footsteps come, and Winifold himself answers: A tall, thin, longer-nosed Half-Elf, in impeccable clothes, looking down at us through his pince-nez. He asks us if we're Jerry's group, and we say that we are. Will we accept the mission? We do accept his request.
So he puts on his jacket and leads us to A.R.N.'s mansion, just up the block. It's a two-story building with three attics dormers. On its right side, it's got a flat roof, leading up to three peaks. And it has a big double door in the front.
"A.R.N. is one for discretion. Don't share the location, names, or anything else."
But rather than the servants' entrance, Winifold leads us in the front door, as that is the only one he has keys for. He comes in with us, and we find the entrance hall.
Into the Mansion of A.R.N.
The foyer's walls are covered in paintings: landscapes, abstracts, studies. The ceiling goes up two stories, showing the peak of the roof. TO the right and left are two doors, and ahead a double door.
"You said this happened before?"
"Yes. Very early on. Te first timew as a mere discovery of A.R.N.'s prowess. A.R.N. fell too deeply into A.R.N.'s creation. This is nearly as far as I go into this house; I will leave you to your business. Don't break anything. Though I do not know much of the interior, I will answer what I know if you have questions. I'll be here for the next half-hour; I have business in the office," and he disappears into the first door on the left.
The last time, A.R.N. was found in the courtyard. Winifold doesn't know where the courtyard is. He's afraid of falling victim to traps or art.
Ryltar cautiously opens the double door onto a long hallway, 10 feet wide, with art on the walls and sculptures on the floor. First on the right is a stained-glass depiction of a rolling forest and castle, basking in the setting sun. A high tower rises above the castle, and a figure is seen moving at the top of the castle, with lightning streaks coming from them.
Then, on the left, a 15-foot-wide painting of a fruit bowl, full of bananas and pineapples and grapes. The bowl is a vibrant blue and green. Every item in the bowl is half pristine, half decayed. The sides don't match on the fruit; the bowl's pattern is divided down the center.
Then on the right is a statue of a female Half-Elf dancer, almost on her back. Arms outstretched, leg holding out a flowing dress, all carved out of marble.
On the left: a group of six masks on a board.
On the right: a pot.
Left: A wall decoration.
Right: a frame sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, with a cloth draped over it.
At the end of the hall, a 10' by 12' picture of a Half-Elf male, with wild teal hair, sitting in front of an easel. On the easel, a self-portrait of the artist, with red hair, in front of a painting where the artist has orange hair, and so on.
There are no doors off this room.
Ryltar wonders why.
Jerry guesses that, given the motion of the paintings, the artworks themselves may be the doors into other rooms.
Ryltar puts his hand against the strained glass castle, and it passes through the hole defined by the frame. It still looks like his normal hand, in a stained-glass world. It's not magical at all; he's just passing his hand through a hole in a frame, where the stained glass would be if it were flat.
So he goes to step through the frame, but Salris gives him a 10' pole from the Robe of Useful Items. Ryltar probes around, and feels a regular floor. He steps through. Something collides with his thigh, and wiggles: a section of the rolling hills and forest stained glass sticks out of the wall of the room oddly, at an angle. As he walks further down the hallway, he walks around other pieces of stained glass. The stained glass effect is just from layers of glass suspended in the room, plus perspective tricks.
He passes the final, uppermost section of the stained glass: the castle. And behind that, a mirror, pointing so that Ryltar, standing in front of the castle, sees only the back side of the mirror. He walks around to the back side of the mirror, and looks in it.
With a 12 Charisma save, he looks into the mirror.
Jerry sees Ryltar vanish.
She inspects the back side of the mirror: other than being very well-made, with an ornate frame, there's nothing to see of its back side. It's just a mirror.
Vurguron checks the arcana: with a 10, he knows that mirrors are used to see reflections, and that they're used in some magic. But with a 2 insight, he doesn't think that it's stepping in front of the mirror that causes the vanishing. He vanishes.
The episode of the mirror
Jerry and Salris look at the mirror. It's on a cart. The floor in front of it is solid.
They turn the mirror around, and nothing happens. Jerry looks at the stained glass image, and nothing's really changed in it.
Salris feels around the mirror. It's solid. He whispers: "Ryltar?"
Ryltar replies: "Hello?!" He's in a soft grey fog, with nothing going on. He hears Salris, and they talk. He casts Dancing Lights and sees nothing. He looks at himself in the reflection on a piece of platinum coinage, but doesn't see anything unusual.
Salris pulls out a steel mirror from the Robe of Useful Items.
Ryltar says that some magic "tore" him to where he was.
Salris sees other people in the mirror: Vurguron, Ryltar, and six others.
We move the mirror out into the hallway, facing the stained glass.
Salris calls Vurguron, and catches him up on stuff.
We try saying his name backwards.
At Ryltar's advice, we wheel the mirror out into the lobby, and point it at a larger mirror: we see Vurguron, Ryltar, and then the others in line, leading away from the mirror.
Jerry tries to guide Vurguron out of the mirror, walking forward, but he makes no progress.
We flip the mirror upside-down. The images in the mirror are upside-down now. We flip it back right.
The figures in the mirror don't look like the artist; they're standing around, doing nothing, in dark clothes with scarves over their faces.
Salris and Jerry push the mirror up against the wall, in a corner, and go to ask Winifold.
Ryltar tries to walk around. It feels like there's nothing else to interact with: no floor, no ground, nothing to really push against.
Winifold is told of the mirror, and says, "Ah. He would, wouldn't he." We explain what happened, and he says, "Great. Without A.R.N., we cannot free them."
Salris opens another door off of the entry, and finds a coat closet.
The next door exposes a short corridor, a room with six mirrors: three on each side wall. He sees himself reflected in the mirrors at angles.
Winifold continues: "One of a few ways to free your companions: Find A.R.N. to give you the command word. Or, if it must be, at great cost, break the mirror, freeing all those who are trapped. For this is a Mirror of Life Trapping.
Jerry asks Winifold to smash the mirror if she and Salris go missing after a day. Winifold asks what else was seen in the mirror; Jerry describes the six other figures. Winifold says he will not smash the mirror, as he does not know them, and that lack of knowledge scares him. He would prefer to be in his office with the door locked.
Salris tries some command words on the mirror, and fails to produce an effect.
Salris enters the room of mirrors. They show him in a similar position to where he is, but the mirrors show him from behind.
Salris open the door at the end of the room, into a house of mirrors. He closes the door, and walks out of the corridor of mirrors, and closes the door.
We spend some time trying random words; nothing happens.
History checks lead us to recognize that this castle is really old; one of the Circle of Eight: a tower where great mages gathered, who in ancient times created spells that today bear their names. Ryltar looks at his spell sheet. Odluck, Mordenkainen, Melf, Tasha, Volo, Morden, Snilloc — we start going for other magical names: Wint, Asmodeus, gods. Ryltar pulls out his professor's sheet, but there are no names there. Maximilian, Melf, Evard, Nystul —
There's a faint shimmer of energy around the mirror.
"Nystul! Ryltar!" says Salris, and Ryltar is smashed into the corner of the room. "Nystul! Vurguron!" and he flies into Ryltar. They each take three points of bludgeoning damage.
We put it back in its room.
Winifold, before he leaves, tells us that he knows that A.R.N. hides things in the artworks. He doesn't know of any other secrets, or rules for navigating the house. But no matter what, he wants A.R.N. by morning.
The hallway of mirrors
Ryltar goes into the hallway of mirrors, and then into the mirror hallway. He touches the mirrors, and they're just mirrors. Then he steps into the house of mirrors. He closes his eyes, and walks forward slowly, and touches an angled wall. There's a spark of static that leaps from the wall onto his hand, dealing 4 Lightning damage to him. He opens his eyes, and walks into a mirror maze. He wanders through it, taking little bits of damage from sparks. He begins to learn his way through it, finding places where there's angled mirrors positioned. Pushing at the edges, there's some give. He tries to open one mirror, and it rotates vertically.
Ryltar starts leaving a trail of breadcrumbs, from his ration bar.
Salris follows him in, and then the rest of the party. He proceeds to fumble through, zapping himself on walls occasionally.
After some more zaps, Jerry convinces him to start using the 10' wooden pole as a blind man's cane.
Vurguron catches up with us, and helps us find an open a non-shocking panel, which opens into:
The Courtyard
In the middle of the courtyard is a gazebo, with item-bearing plinths on four corners. And there's a statue in the middle of each of the four walls in the courtyard, and a fifth one. The door has a tarnished, weather-worn mirror on the outside. The courtyard has a balcony on the second floor, ringing the courtyard. In each corner, supporting the balcony's roof, are cupids.
Ryltar examines the items on the plinths. Salris sits down on the chair in the gazebo. Jerry looks at the near-side statue; Vurguron takes the far one.
Counter-clockwise around the courtyard, from to the left of the door:
Dwarven male statue: broad build, shield against his thigh, with a thick staff and a concave bowl on top of it. A crown upon his head.
A ship's prow, a fae female with waves crashing behind her.
An angelic figure, holding out a hand, giving an intimidating presence.
The fourth and fifth statues are not yet examined, because an attack makes a 27 to hit him, dealing 21 piercing damage. A 23 hits Ryltar for 21 piercing, and Jerry for 23 piercing. Salris takes 20 piercing. We look, and see a stone arrow has hit and pierced each of us.
Above us, the cupids line up another shot.
Round 1
Vurguron examines the angelic-baby cupids: they look like normal animated statues. He casts Ice Knife on the cupid furthest from the door, dealing 8 cold for 14 damage to the cupid.
Jerry runs around the gazebo, looking at the items on the plinths: a stand of wind chimes, tinkling in the breeze. A metal brazier, filled with twigs and soot. A seashell. A meteorite stone. She looks across the courtyard at the other two statues: a male Half-Orc in dancing attire, giving a bow. A Goliath, bald head, tattoos graven in the stone, holding out hands in an aggressive stance.
Ryltar brings the seashell to the mermaid, and puts it in her hand. The statue's arm clicks a little, sinking.
Salris picks up the bowl of soot, and puts the bowl atop the dwarf's staff. It clicks into place.
Jerry's Dodge earns her a 29 piercing damage. Vurguron takes 24. Ryltar takes 26. Salris manages to dodge the arrow.
Vurguron casts Blur for disadvantage on attacks against him. He takes a second wind for 21 health.
Round 2.
Jerry grabs the wind chimes and hangs them on the angel's hand. It clicks downward a little.
Ryltar examines the Goliath: it's in an enraged, forward stance, like it's about to grab something or tear it apart. He tries to move the meteorite, but can't. The balcony doesn't have visible walls on all sides. He grabs a potion and holds it, waiting for the next attack.
Salris tries to move the meteorite, but can't.
Vurguron gets shot, despite the Blur, for 27. Jerry takes 15. Ryltar is shot unconscious Salris takes 15.
Vurguron looks at the cupid: it's covered in ice. No one else has been attacking the statues. He is convinced to help Salris move the meteorite, but with a natural 1 fails to help. He takes a healing potion.
Round 3.
With a 28, Jerry manages to lift the meteorite. She puts it in the dancing Orc's hands.
With a natural 20 on the death save, Ryltar comes back to life, and chugs that potion. He is prone, so he decides to lie down dodgily.
Salris tries to move the meteorite from the dancer to the Goliath. Salris falls over, depositing the stone.
On the opposite side of the courtyard, the fae figure swings away, revealing a door.
The cupid's arrow misses Ryltar. Vurguron casts Shield. Jerry takes an arrow for 25. Salris takes one.
Vurguron sprints to the door, and steps in.
Round 4.
Jerry runs across the courtyard, throws Ryltar through the door, and runs through the door after him.
Salris follows.
The door closes behind us, and the arrows hit it.
The Glass Workshop
The room is full of bits of glass sculptures. A barrel of scrap glass. A furnace, pipes, tools: everything needed for sculpting and blowing glass. The kiln sputters with flame.
Ryltar stands, wipes the blood out of his eyes. He makes an investigation check, and with a 13 finds a double panel of mirrors, which, upon investigation, leads into the hall of mirrors. He looks into the kiln. Nothing there. Some small stained-glass works. A barrel of sand, two barrels of enlongated d8 shapes. Tools to the right of the kiln. Shelves to the left. Ryltar examines the stained glasses on the shelves: landscapes, depictions of people. One that looks like a fractal tree. They're extraordinarily detailed. The ceiling is 10' up, with a pipe heading from the kiln out of the wall. The pipe is warm. The room is quiet.
We take a short rest.
Ryltar decides to attempt making some glass: he puts some sand into a crucible and puts it into the kiln. The kiln isn't hot enough to melt the sand. It's basically running only on a pilot light right now. The kiln is warm, as Ryltar pokes his hand around. There's a grated shelf, and under the shelf, there's the pilot light. There's another section to it; it goes into the next room. No signs of fuel or anything else.
Salris looks through the kiln into the next room, and Misty Steps into it.
He is now in the pottery room. There's a door on the opposite side of the room, not into the glassblowing room. The wall behind the glassblowing shelves is covered with tools. There is one small bit of open wall, which he tries for a door.
From behind, he's hit with an attack that deals 15 bludgeoning and reduces his HP max by that much, and a second that deals 13 and reduces his HP max again. Two clay golems have appeared from the clay piles in the room.
Salris yells, "Something's over here!"
Ryltar yells, "Then come back!"
Salris does.
Jerry examines the wall, and finds a weird sound. But the door doesn't reveal itself. She throws an octahedron into the kiln, onto the pilot light. It bursts into flame, and Ryltar's glass is almost ready.
Vurguron tries to negotiate with the golems through the door. He tries to persuade them through the door-wall. With a natural 1+5, he doesn't seem to have much luck convincing. There's a gurgling screech, of pain. The fire flickers slightly.
Ryltar pulls his crucible of glass out, and closes the door on the kiln.
Jerry preps to feed the kiln with more of the fuel crystals.
The sputtering of the golem gradually comes to a stop.
Ryltar examines the empty wall, and the support beam clicks. There's a grinding noise. The flames of the kiln are pushed into the room a little. A wall has come up into the kiln, dividing it in two, dividing the kilns. We reopen the door, to let the golems into the hot side of the kiln. Ryltar casts Ray of Frost to cool the kiln a little, and we wait to hear if any golems infiltrate. The kiln is still firey.
He blows some glass while we wait. He tries to blow a bubble, and succeeds. He sets it aside to cool.
"No time like the present", says Ryltar, and grabs Salris before Dimension Dooring into the pottery room. One golem has taken a lot of damage, and is reforming the arm. The golems stare at them. Ryltar and Salris protest that they mean the golems no harm; they're just here to find A.R.N. and help him. The golems, both Large creatures, approach.
The golems attack Salris, bludgeoning him and poisoning him, for 31 damage and reduced his max HP by 31. Ryltar takes 35 bludgeoning, but succeeds on the Constitution save to not take a permanent cut in health.
Ryltar Dimension Doors back to the other room, grabbing Salris. Ryltar apologizes. Salris casts Remove Curse on himself, but his condition does not improve. He complains to Ryltar about Ryltar's teleporting.
Jerry suggests that we retreat from the house and inform Winifold what we've found, before sleeping someplace, like Winifold's house or The Hunter's Table.
Ryltar and Salris want to poke through the last door off the lobby.
The last door off the lobby.
So we retreat through the electrified mirror maze, and back to the lobby.
The room appears to be storage for display items.
We decide to go back into the hallway.
The hallway, again
We decide not to investigate the half-rotted bowl.
The half-elf dancer in the hallway lines up with the half-orc in the courtyard. We investigate it, and it's pretty clearly a revolving door.
The six masks on the wall, all in a neutral grey.: Happiness, Anger, Surprise, Sadness, Disgust, Fear. "A character grows throughout their story."
The large pot, four feet tall. Its bottom third is smooth. The middle third is twisted and striated. The top third is smooth, with a wooden cork, and a small lip for pouring. It sounds hollow.
A stone plate hangs on the wall, with protruding phrases carved out of it:
To find my name,
My house, my fame
To seek my glory
to tell my story
To study my art,
to steal my heart.
A wooden frame, leaning against the wall, with a sheet over it.
Then, at the end of the hallway, the big framed painting of the Half-Elf artist with nested paintings and hair colors.
We tap at the painting. It initially identifies itself as A.R.N., and over conversation we discover that the painting hasn't seen A.R.N. because A.R.N. doesn't wake the painting up. "Would you have conversations with yourself?" Several of the party answer positively. The painting doesn't know of Winifold. The nested paintings talk with themselves, and it doesn't want to answer questions of the painting's age. It complains of dust, so Ryltar dusts the painting off. It is thankful, and Ryltar flirts with the painting a little. The painting says that when A.R.N. is here, A.R.N. walks to and from the door at the end of the hall.
"Sometimes when he's in the middle of a conversation, he gets something to eat," and the painting strains itself to look past us, "he fetches something to eat from there," gesturing at the painting on the right. Salris pokes the painting, and it's a painting, affixed to the wall.
The painting goes back to sleep. Ryltar examines the painting's frame, and finds a latch. The painting swings open. And behind it is stairs.
Next session
A.R.N., then Majorie.
Percival is spending the next couple of sessions at his interdimensional manor.
Ryltar needs to do something for the missionaries of Denier.
Was Seamus poisoning the whole bar? Is that why he wasn't drinking? Is Salris' brother also a bearer of the curse that afflicts Salris? Or is he just part of Rezzik Brazzik now?
What's up with Salris' Celestial dagger?
We know how to trap the Jester, with Magic Circle
What's going on with the stars? Are Ryltar's theories about colors and significant plot-relevant things' colors correct?
How can the Mummy Lord be defeated?
Determine how to resolve the Eta'el-Kerjes plot
Remember to un-petrify Ockoh in the Ice Lord Wint's Lair, so that we can give him the foodservice contract for the Irregular Inn