Expedition 67: A Great Seam of Books

*Or, “Remember 4437251! Remember the Librarian’s Duty!”*

### Summary

We travel to Ova's Sanctum, hoping to find books, but find no books in the vast library. We do, however, discover a great seam of books in Binder's Alley.

### Detailed Writeup

**Expedition Objectives:** Reach Ova’s Sanctum

**Expedition Log:** At the crack of dawn we departed from the Badlands into Mage Kendon’s bunker, and from there to the Mageline. We admired Lin’dsey’s recent construction in the Badlands, and soon descended into the dungeon. Using our map, we ignored those doors we did not think useful. We were intent on our goal: the rumored library of Ova’s Sanctum, filled with the knowledge of an empire.

At first, fortune blessed us. We encountered a figure in a runic circle. The skeletonized dwarf in wizard’s robes had died after casting a Tiny Hut Spell, and carried 200 gp worth of Arcanium.

We passed the innkeeper’s door, then Mage Faiir’s Sanctum, which warned: “Trespassers will be fireballed.” We decided not to bother.

As we closed with Ova’s Sanctum, we found our first enemies: a group of Spellmares, Nightmare-like illusion creatures that streak through the Mageline. Calliope and Kar held the line with help from Valorie’s spells, and the fight was efficiently won, with only Kar taking serious injury. Killing three of the four mares, we recovered three units of Colbarious Dust, a spellcraft component.

We passed another door, to Binder’s Alley, before we encountered a squad of four Spectators, who demanded that we clear the hallway. They spoke of the “Mageline 8,” their former masters, and questioned whether Tolyr was a new master. Unable to persuade them, Tolyr was forced to execute them by incendiary fwakooming. Shaking off fear, confusion, and paralysis, we continued onward.

We arrived at Ova’s Sanctum at long last. It was beautiful, decorated in praise to Ova with beautiful sculpture. We first discovered a lending desk and the lending records, describing the long history of the library’s lends and additions. With a spell of Daylight, we revealed the entirety of Ova’s Sanctum: it had been looted exhaustively, every usable book retrieved by some other party. There was great disappointment.

Tolyr called out for a Library Assistant, which unleashed a loud clanging and banging. After a long search, we discovered a Modron, badly damaged, weakened and ancient. The modron told us the story of the library’s looting: long ago, they came. “Humans, dwarves, 1 halfling. Dressed in blue and white. Shuddered. Came over many years. Early on they discovered me and removed my eyes. Since, I have not been able to see them.” There was general shock and horror.

Further questioning of the Modron, named 4437251, revealed that the last day the Library was open was the 17th of Nerul, 1001 Age of War, a date around the turning of the Age. During this date, a “pan-faculty ritual” closed the library early. We got little else that was useful.

Stairs led upward to the Visitor’s Center. We took a trap to the face on them, and ascended to the Visitor’s Center. An immense statue of the Blue King, beautiful murals, and immense walls greeted us. Some of the windows had breached, and allowed sand to bury almost half the room.

From the window, we saw an immense yellow desert with low, dry shrubbery, and in the distance the black tower of Nexus. The Blue King’s statue, representing an aspect of Ova, has a transmutation aura on it. The desert about had a conjurational effect on it.

The Visitor’s Center had four wings, North, East, West, and South. We leave from the East to the South, encountering an entry desk with a corpse, and a doorway leading to sand. It seems that the entrance to the Sanctum has been buried. The East wing once held scribe’s desks. Everything of value had since rotted or been removed. The North wind was buried entirely in sand.

We got up out of the Visitor’s Center and made a note of our location on our maps. We caught sight of Drakehall, Highball, and Nexus, off in the distance as Tolyr makes his notes.

Disappointed, we returned to the library. Valorie, determined to remove 4437251 from the library and give it renewed purpose, used a great deal of power convincing it that it was able to leave in the company of our group, appealing to the high purpose of Ova’s Sanctum. The speech moved all present, and 4437251 agreed to leave. Tolyr placed it into his Bag of Holding, where it expired at once. It’s instructions were cosmically enforced, and to violate them was death. 4437251 shall be remembered.

Now truly sour, we left and returned the way we came, stopping at Bookbinder’s Alley to at least see what was inside. There, we discovered an oddity: The room was covered with a complex illusion that made it appear like a sunny boulevard with eateries, workshops, and sunshine, even though it was in truth somewhat cramped. In one corner was a pile of corpses, stacked atop each other.

With a clinking groan, a single Sparksouled, rusted almost beyond function, emerged from one of the buildings, clutching a quill that was practically fused to its fingers. It answered to Tolyr in Stonetongue, and quite clearly articulated that it was supposed to kill any intruder. Though he took some punches, Tolyr was able to talk the Mechanical Scribe down, persuading it to follow us out of the Mageline and eventually join the other Sparksouled.

Free to loot the place, we tear it apart looking for valuables, stopping only to drop some heads into our Bag of Corpses for later questioning. We discover 260 gp worth of loose books in Stonetongue, then a marvel: a decanter of endless ink, and a ream of endless paper. Valorie, however, stumbles on the jackpot: Behind one wall is a chamber stacked floor-to-ceiling with books, as much as 200 silver worth. Unfortunately, we stand no chance of transporting them. And somehow, they have been stacked, organized, and kept intact. Fearful of some hidden guardian, we withdrew,

Our return through the Mageline was without event. We emerged with mixed success and some good profit. We sold the Ream of Endless Paper and Decanter of Endless Ink to Lahont for 5 gold promptly, dedicated the books we had to the Grand Library, and agreed to store the Arcanium and Cobaltian Dust as group components until someone bought them.

REMEMBER 4437251! REMEMBER OVA’S MISSION! **NEVER FORGET!**

**Expedition Result: A Great Seam of Books to Mine. Success!**

**Expedition Loot:** 200 gp of Arcanium, 3 units of Cobaltian Dust, 26 silver of books, a large amount of paper money, Decanter of Endless Ink and Ream of Endless Paper (sold for 500 gp), the Mechanical Scribe.