25 Arodus 4718 (Starday) con
We all sat in silence for a moment, before Felyx channeled the healing energy of Abadar through the chamber. Oliver and Verity spotted a rope dangling from a hole in the ceiling, leading into the apex of what would be the dome of the building were this structure outside.
Oliver, continuing to show great strength in the face of his fears, climbed up the twenty foot rope into the small room. It turned out to be where Dagio made his home, and was filled with mathematical tomes. Oliver found a jewelry box filled with rings, including Senator Glendower’s signet ring, tucked away in a small velvet pouch. I imagine it was very special to Dagio. Oliver and Verity made their way down from the rafters, and Oliver looked almost sick as he took a seat on one of the benches. I patted his back, doing my best to comfort him as he calmed down. There is no bravery without fear.
Dagio wore a great amount of jewelry, much of it stolen from Twelve’s archive. Felyx and I estimated that all totaled it was probably worth around five thousand gold. While we looked everything over, Cornelius sorted any magic items from the rest. The was a magical pearl that allowed for extra spellcasting, which we gave to Felyx. More divine healing is never a bad thing. There was a ring shaped like a serpent with a ruby in its mouth. This offered magical protection. Verity took it, and I asked her if we could trade. The red suited me much better than the blue sapphire in the ring we had already found. Verity was fond of the snake design, though, and wished to hold onto the ruby ring.
Senator Glendower’s ring was magical as well, though neither Cornelius, Verity or I could determine what it did, or even which school of magic it was enchanted with.
I felt bad just leaving Dagio on the floor of the room. He had attacked us, but it was obvious that he had been driven a little mad by his studies and perhaps even his long life. He had most likely been Glendower’s familiar at one time. Dagio’s love for the senator was apparent in his dedication to mastering the circle, and in the care he had shown for the signet ring. I pulled a tapestry down from the wall, and carefully wrapped his little body before placing him in the nook behind the podium. I quietly said a short prayer for him to find peace in the afterlife, and rejoined the others.
We let our companions into the room, and gave them a brief account of the battle. Lady Gael took a seat, finishing work on her sketch of Mimips. Guy was keeping an eye on the only other door as my friends and I made our way back to Factor Twelve.
Twelve was quite pleased when we returned the jewelry, quickly filing it all away into their proper places. A small pile of rings was left on the table, pulled from other places in the museum, and we decided to keep those to sell later. In exchange for returning the items that had been stolen, Twelve told us we could borrow another item from the archive. We chose the wand of remove disease.
I asked Factor Twelve about Senator Glendower’s ring, and he said that he didn’t know what kind of magical properties it had. We thanked him for all of his help, and he reminded us that we would need to return the items we checked out to the archive in twelve years. That may be an errand for Cynefrith. I don’t know if I’ll want to drag myself back down here in twelve years to return a suit of armor.
After bidding our farewells to Twelve, we made our way back to the Senate of Circles, waving at Mimips as we passed. If I spoke Draconic I would have wished him luck in his pursuit of alchemy and his journey south to Thuvia.
There was only one exit from the Senate of Circles, and it led us into a small, very dusty room. The walls were painted with frescoes of nature scenes filled with various fae and a centaur. While centaurs aren’t fae, they often seem to be included in artwork of the fae, perhaps due to their vague similarity to satyrs. There were also two couches in the room. I think perhaps this was a waiting room or a lounge area for the members of the Circle to relax. A small hallway off this room led to a secret door to the stage behind the podium in the Senate of Circles.
Cornelius noticed footprints in the dust on the floor. Small footprints, like those of a child, or a halfling. They entered from the only other door that exited the room, made their way to the door to the senate, and then left again. We assumed whoever it was had been rebuffed by Dagio. Perhaps these were more survivors, or someone who knew that the senate badges could teleport people down here. We decided to be cautious moving forward.
When Verity opened the only door exiting the room, a trap was sprung, launching a great many daggers at us. Verity and I were each struck once, but two daggers hit Felyx, and she fell to the ground. I used the last bit of my magic for the day to heal her, and began to yell for Zubari to come and aid us. Luckily Oliver and Cornelius were not hit.
Zubari helped patch us up, and we looked into the next room. It was really more of a coat closet or small storage area, with another door leading further on.
Verity opened this door, and it led into a larger room, with empty armor racks and weapon lockers filled with rusted blades. I assumed it was meant to be a guard post or security room. Verity made her way into the room, and two halfling assassins who had been hiding on either side of the door lunged out, attacking her.
I immediately began to sing, allowing my anger to flow through my words. I noticed this time both Oliver and Verity allowed themselves to feel Ragathiel’s rage. Verity sliced into one of the halflings, moving out of the flank, as Oliver ran into the room, standing back to back with her to try and prevent them from moving into a strategic position. He slashed at one of the assassins with Oak Heart. From behind me, Felyx fired Dignity’s Barb, her bolt striking true. A flash of magic from Cornelius brough one of the halflings down.
From behind me, I heard a loud thud. I turned to see Felyx on the ground, unconscious, the form of Imistos standing over her, holding a sap. My vision turned red with rage as I heard him yell “Take them alive, they’re nobles!”