We lock the wing and leave to go take a full rest. Kiya goes to the Pond Prawn, where the shopkeeper she bartered with before, to sell the tinkers tools. Teljas the dwarf welcomes her warmly and offers 25g. Kiya tells a fantastical story and barters it up to 27g (+9g for Kiya).
Kiya takes the book Planes on Planes to the Royal Wizards Guild library to try to decipher the notes written in it. She translates some of it, resulting in a reasonable translation. Whoever made the notes ranted about “heresy”, the corruption of magic by the good and holy. They state, “the moon belongs to me.” When the book says “no one has visited the moon” he writes in, “that’s what you think.” He doesn’t want people to go to the moon. The book states “the moon watches over us” and he corrects “I’m watching you.” He says he freed himself. He’s happy he escaped but is still obsessed with the moon. And with power. He thinks he’s clever. Now that he’s free, he wants to conquer.
Kiya also finds a children’s book that contains the rest of the Oni poem:
Lock the door, blow out the light;
The hungry oni haunts the night.
Hide and tremble, little one;
The oni wants to have some fun.
Hear it scratching on the door;
See its shadow cross the floor.
The sun won’t rise for quite a while;
Till then, beware the oni’s smile.
We return to the Black Lake district to the Harpel mansion. When we step into the mirrored hallway and all the glass in the mirrors falls onto the floor. There were no impact points, as if they had been broken by non-physical means.
Sitting Room: the furniture is thrown aside, the mimic’s body is gone, and the painting is lying on the floor with a rending tear all the way through it.
Library: the books have been torn off the shelves and the painting of the mansion is on fire.
Hallway: we come across Clatter, now torn apart and just broken pieces of armor. 🙁
Workshop: Now in ruins, table broken.
Greenhouse: surprisingly intact w/ simulated moonlight as before. Ray still alive, still a pixie.
Bedroom: destroyed, rug burned. Bad Kiya does not reappear.
Kitchen: There is a body bound to the table using spider silk, and there are cobwebs around the room. They are dressed as a servant. The body is a week old-ish. (the wing has been shut for a few weeks). Kiya shoots firebolts at cobwebs in kitchen and burns some of them.
Pantry: Normal except for two keys. One locks the pantry door but the other seems more ornate.
Observatory: Giant, lots more webbing. Giant telescope in the corner, facing the wall instead of a window? There is a circle of arcane symbols around the telescope. We are attacked by a spider swarm, and also by a giant phase spider, which attacks and then disappears as quickly. By readying attacks, we are able to kill it. Kiya harvests spider venom and takes its mandibles.
Kiya looks into the telescope and sees the surface of the moon. She sees craters, etc., and a tiny hut covered with a translucent magical dome. Within the dome, bushes and trees. Words scribbled above the dome that read:
To my dearest nephew Tristan, you have inherited my wing and I have retired to the moon to escape the cares of the material world. You can access my share of the fortune by standing in the circle and speaking “Lunas extas”. Sincerely, Siegfried.”
Kiya stands in circle and speaks the words. She is suddenly replaced by Siegfried and ends up on the moon instead, in the hut. The hut spell, its caster no longer in range, begins dissipating around her. Siegfried realizes what happened, summons Kiya back, and gives us a scroll of Banishment for the Oni.
The we proceed downstairs and Siegfried banishes the Oni.
We learn that the hand mirror we found in Amon Harpel’s belongings was originally the property of Maura Harpel, Siegfried’s wife and Amon’s mother. Kiya returns Maura’s mirror and Siegfried’s journal, but forgets to give his spell book back, oops.
Siegfried offers us magical items in reward. Tyener requests magical weapon, Vistra same, Kiya ring/cloak of protection. He gives us 450g (+150g for Kiya) and asks us to return in a day or two once he’s had time to find the magical items for us.
Level 4. Prestidigigity, here I come!
