After Jin's discovery of the body in the pit trap, the party decides to return to the "computer" room to pose more questions. Guerrand decides to take the reigns again, & begins typing in more questions as Grego & Gileegan crowd around. Guerrand begins typing:
> Where is "Dark Genesis of the Great Church's Underside"?
> DOWN THE STAIRS
> How many stairs are in this library?
> TWO
> Where are the stairs in this library?
> IT WILL COST YOU
> What will the stairs cost me?
> YOUR WORD
> My word to do what?
> THE WORDS OF YOUR NAME, DO YOU SEE A DRAWER BELOW?
Gileegan locates the drawer & pulls from it an opened book, as well as a feathertip & ink, they sit the to the side of the computer on the desk; Gil examines the pages the book is open to, a list of names. The last name on the list: Vincent Gozer.
The party talks amongst themselves, then Guerrand goes back to typing:
> What happened to Vincent Gozer?
> I TRIED TO STEAL
> What happens to thieves from the library?
> EVERYONE IS A THIEF
> What will happen if I take "Dark Genesis of the Great Church's Underside" from this library?
> YOU CANNOT REMOVE IT, NOT WITHOUT MAGIC
> How do I remove it with magic?
> THAT IS FOR YOU TO DECIDE
> Can I borrow "Dark Genesis of the Great Church's Underside"?
> THERE IS NO BORROWING IN THE LIBRARY OF KARVU
> Can "Dark Genesis of the Great Church's Underside" be destroyed?
> AS MOST THINGS IN THIS WORLD, IT IS PERHAPS POSSIBLE
> What did Vincent Gozer steal?
> IT WAS A TOME TITLED "THE RAINBOW OF THE ENCHANTED WASTE"
> Was Vincent Gozer killed by spikes?
> YES, THE DEATH OF A SCOUNDREL
> What happens if we return "The Rainbow Flowers of the Enchanted Waste" to the shelves?
> THAT MAY BE A GOOD QUESTION
> When I sign my name, what do I agree to?
> I CANNOT TELL YOU THAT
The party discusses what to do now & Gil is eager to get on w/ the quest & agrees to sign his name to the book, if Grego agrees to pay him 1000 gp when all is said & done. Due to the weight of the task in regard to his allegiance to & mission for the Great Church, Grego agrees that if Gil signs his name to the book, he will obtain the gold from the church in payment, when all is said & done, provided they obtain book, etc. Gil signs his name to the book & returns it to the drawer & closes it. Guerrand begins typing:
> You have your word.
> THE SECOND STAIR IS AT THE END OF THE HALL OPPOSITE WHERE THE OTHER STAIR, LOOK CAREFULLY
> Can I free Vincent Gozer?
> I DO NOT KNOW, BUT BE CAREFUL
The party takes leave of the Scriptorium & computer, heading to the end of the hallway to the SW. Grego, in his excitement over the newfound info, & Gil's agreement to sign the book, becomes a bit giddy, speaking of returning after a successful mission, & lets roll off his tongue his desire to pass back through the way of Duck Hill, a halfling haven to the north, where he is quite fond of the Wrestling Halfling Ladies found there. He speaks of he & Guerrand watching a show on the way to Moor's End, in which the Wrestler Halfling Ladies of Duck Hill covered themselves in Stirge Oil. "Yes, bathed in stirge oil," reminisced Grego, grinning, "quite the sight. Have you ever been to Duck Hill? Many of your kind there." Gil seemed mostly interested in the Stirge Oil, rather than the halfling wrestler ladies. Realizing perhaps he had overstepped some boundary, Grego cut talk of the ladies & red-faced, became serious once more as they neared the end of the corridor & began peering around for anything odd. Sure enough, after just about ten minutes, the party located a secret door within the woodwork, & pushed it back to reveal a small entrance room which led to a staircase down.
Slowly, & carefully, the party descends the stair, to find a fairly well-lit room, a small, private library w/ books from floor to ceiling on north & south walls. There are chairs & tables about, as well as some prominent cracks in the west wall, which allows cool air to sneak in. But most eye-catching, is an 8' horned being, w/ cloven hooves, what the party recognizes as a demon. The demon turns to them, raises one hand which glows for a brief moment w/ fire, then turns back to the book in his other hand, flipping through it. As the party watches, they see that it takes the demon about a minute or so to work through one book, then the demon places it back on the shelf, & reads another, etc. As the demon seems unconcerned w/ the party, they begin scouring the shelves. Within about twenty minutes, the demon still engrossed in reading, & unconcerned w/ the party, they sure enough locate a book titled
Dark Genesis of the Great Church's Underside. Grego is ecstatic, & verifies the title & contents before tucking it away w/ his belongings. Grego also becomes interested in the cracks in the wall, but can't make out anything past them, the wall too thick, except for the trickle of air. The party decides to exit the private library & return to the main library, talk turning to returning
Rainbow Flowers, freeing Vincent Gozer, or destroying
Dark Genesis. As they debate the best option, passing back into the hallway, Jin somehow slams into the secret door as it is closing, & bloodies his nose; they continue on down the hallway wrapping around, when they near the other secret passage back into the library they see two Brain Moles headed their way.
After the Brain Moles seem most interested in circling around Renfro, they are quickly killed by the others. Staying in the hallway, & the discussing how to perhaps destroy
Dark Genesis, the party decides not to go back into the main library, but to return to the room w/ the demon, Gileegan now wishing to speak w/ the demon & ask him about Vincent Gozer, & perhaps what his signing the book in the Scriptorium could mean.
Re-entering the private library, the demon once again seems unconcerned w/ the party's presence. Gileegan walks over & tries speaking w/ it. Interrupted, & perhaps replying, the demon turns & screams/grunts some unintelligible garble @ Gil, looking down upon him, then begins devouring another book. Not pleased w/ the result, Guerrand decides to don the Helm of Telepathy & try to communicate w/ the demon. He finds he is unable to communicate outwardly, but while focusing on the demon, an extreme amount of information begins pouring into his brain, as the demon flips through pages, Guerrand is able to withstand the onslaught of info, however, is unable to retain any of the actual information. Next, Gil puts on the Helm, attempts the same, & has the same result. There is discussion of letting the demon read
Dark Genesis, but both Grego & Guerrand think that an extremely risky idea. Gil thinks they should try writing something down, a note of their questions, & hand it to the demon for it to read. The party decides to return to the Scriptorium to get some writing tools, etc.
When they get back to the private library, an excited Gil, writes down his questions & hands them to the demon, while again donning the Helm. This time, after unleashing another torrent of scream/grunt/cry, the demon lifts its hands, drops the book, & casts a spell onto Gil, who suddenly finds the Helm popping from his head as he becomes
enlarged. The demon does not heed the paper that Gil gives him & just lets it fall as he turns back to reading another large tome. Frustrated, Jin steps up & tries speaking w/ the demon again, then pulls a book from the shelf titled
Monkey Trumpets, he then hands it to the demon & dons the fallen Helm, focusing... As the torrent of info begins to flow through his skull he cannot move, but when all is done, he is not able to retain anything about the book... The party leaves the private library once again, debating their next move.
As they head back, about halfway down the main corridor, they find themselves being rushed by what look to be fairly large rabbits, on the run, made of what looks to be dust: Dust Bunnies. A battle ensues, Guerrand & Link soon find themselves hampered w/ fits of serious sneezing, while Clone the Berserker cuts through one of the bunnies w/ his axe, to find that now there are two. The party is able to defeat the Dust Bunnies w/o much more trouble, as piles of dust trickle & bend into the wind, though Guerrand did take 4 damage from two attacks, the worst being a dust bunny bite @ the neck. He & Link stop sneezing & the party begins to regroup.
1:00 AM, Sunday, 17th day of the month of the Hummingbird, Moor's End, Furthermoor
