Zoom 2024-05-14 21:00

Note: No Zoom session on 21st May - next session at Mentmore.
Having come up with our attack plan, Joshua has the good idea of trying to negotiate instead. (Spoiler alert - it was a bad idea.) Using arguments such as you're all going to die and not get resurrected, we negotiate over whether we can get them all down safely from the tower: they claim there are 8 of them (not detected as a lie) and that they need us to provide them with fly/levitate/FF as they can't do it all themselves (a lie). Unfortunately, their scrying allows them to listen in on our less-than-candid discussions, so Joshua ends up offering a binding (under Perceval) agreement of non-aggression/safe passage  and as many fly/levitate/FF as they need and cannot provide themselves. They say they will think about it...
After about 10 minutes, having heard nothing from them at all, we poke our heads up around the spiral staircase - to see it is completely blocked at the top by a Wall of Stone, which we somehow surmise to be about 6 foot deep. So the bastards have walled us in, and probably buggered off. We debate how we are going to get through this wall, but someone remembers that we can just use Dispel Magic. It takes a couple of goes, but we manage to get rid of the wall.
Some more glyphs to get past (3 different ones to what we have seen previously) and we get into the Observation room. We find a used vial of poison (decayed already - probably for use on weapons) and a (hidden) used scroll of Wall of Stone. There is also a special chair pointing at the observation wall. We leave that for later.
We go up one storey to the pens - there is a lot of animal blood on the floor, suggesting the recent slaughter of some animals, and blood trailing up the stairs.  Carrying on up the stairs to the roof, we come to the parapets and three Great Hawks who have clearly been fed on the slaughtered animals and are now completely satiated and in no mood to go flying. Joshua and Hamish have a chat with the hawks - they say there were 6 giants who came up and fed them, then went over the parapets (and we can see evidence of marks/blood on the parapets). They are not concerned about the tower imploding - one of them has even been through the experience before!
So with the tower apparently clear of Giants (though we do use the Wand of Enemy Detection to check) we go and investigate the Arcane Library - though Garaf (with guards) checks out the chair in the Observation room.  
The Arcane Library is a complete mess - with about 6000 books scattered on the floors, and the shelves all empty. After a bit of faffing trying to work out what to do, Hamish and Bazin just starting getting on with the job of sorting out the books - and the rest start following. We concentrate on finding spells of 4th or 5th level - feeling that we aren't going to be able to use higher level spells before the tower reforms. Dougal nips down to give Sholar a message to the Master of Apprentices that whatever caused the tower to be attacked is probably still within it.
Meanwhile, Garaf attunes himself to the chair in the observation room (takes between one and two hours), and starts scrying various places that he can remember. There is a (temporary) CON drain from the strain of scrying.
* He says hello to 'Of the One', who greets him courteously.
* Stormhaven - still under siege.
* FarHaven - The walls are still down, and all the Clans are still there (including Thuderclan)
* WhiteBeach - The Diamond Fort is still intact, but houses around it seem to have been damaged.
* Willstone - signs of major rebuilding following the events there
* Vale of Vendor - The Shadowclan is no more - their bodies seem to be there, still standing, but rotting. However, Garaf's viewing is interrupted by a voice (Toscin's), saying "Hello little man" - so Garaf breaks the contact immediately (costing more CON)
In the library, we manage to find the following complete sets of spells books: Bigby's Clenched Fist, Charm Monster, Stone Shape, Enchant an Item, Mass Invisibility, Fumble, Time Stop (!), Cone of Cold, Tongues, Distance Distortion, Stone to Flesh, Hold Person, Teleport, Disintegrate, Polymorph Other, Wall of Force, Wizard Eye, Conjuror Elemental. We also find two special single volume Arcane books - Control of Dimension Door and Enhancement of Dispel Magic. As a reminder, the spell books have one volume per level (think of Encyclopedia Brittanica size) and cannot be stored in extra-dimensional space. The spell does not require an Int roll to learn (for the person who 'borrowed' the book only.)
Garaf takes Cone of Cold, Twoo takes Wizard Eye, Dougal takes Control of Dimension Door and Hamish takes Enhancement of Dispel Magic. (Darrell may allow Dafydd/David to say what their characters really wanted to take.) Sholar joins us saying he wishes to leave the tower, and, oh by the way, can he grab the Tongues spell book please? 
We go up to the top to the tower to prepare to leave. We think it is a good idea for Garaf to do a quick scry around the base of the tower and surrounding area, but as soon as he takes to the chair, Toscin is back on asking "are you there, boy?", so Garaf breaks contact immediately. (More CON loss).
We cast sufficient fly/levitate spells to get us all down off the tower, cast a load of protective spells (*), and prepare to jump...