Candlekeep
As it usually happens when they reach a town, the party split up in Baldur’s Gate to tackle individual pursuits:
Reynard returned to Westhill, citing his dislike for “civilized” lands, and his need to return to the wilds.
Sigismund’s note
Sigismund stated he had a lead to pursue at Candlekeep. When the party went to get him the next morning, his bed appeared unslept and a sheet of parchment on the small desk read simply, “I must save the Weave.” Attempts to contact him with a Simul Stone received no answer.
T’Sai stayed in Baldur’s Gate, taking in the sights of a new city.
Molish took the opportunity of being home to visit his church. He hoped they had received word from his missing mentor. While there was nothing from him directly, they had received word from Waterdeep that he had passed through there. Apparently, he was obsessively talking about the Mad Mage’s dungeon during his entire visit.
Candlekeep
Thaminor utilized his copy of An Aryvandaan History of Illefarn to gain entrance in to the research halls, and purchased a translated copy for himself to peruse. Further consultation with the wisdom of the sages revealed a similar prognosis for his current affliction: a True Resurrection spell will be needed.
Pix utilized his GOOGLE to gain entrance to the research halls and learned seemingly all that remained about the Rod of the Seven, most importantly the command word to locate the next piece.
Speaking the command word, “designandum,” Pix identified that the next piece of the Rod was located far to the northeast. In an attempt to narrow down their search, Pix utilized the Harper Portal Network to teleport to Evereska, where he then sensed the Rod to the northwest. Teleporting once more to Sundabar, Pix realized he was close, not far west of the Rod’s location. He sent a message with his Simul Stone to the remaining three members of the party, and they joined him in Sundabar. Without delay, they summoned the stagecoach and followed the Rod and departed the dwarfhold for the Nether Mountain range to the east-northeast of the city.
Sundabar
As they grew near their destination, they observed a curious sight: a small earthmote sticking out the side of a tall peak. As they climbed (and levitated) up to the earthmote, it became obvious that it had crashed into the side of the mountain millennia ago.
Upon reaching the (slightly slanted) surface of the earthmote, they observed a small collection of Netherese ruins. The Rod led them to the largest, most intact structure in the center, with massive doors at the end of a short 20-foot corridor. They were 10-feet wide by 15-feet tall, appeared to be made of solid obsidian, and were covered in symbols of darkness, night, Shar and ancient Netheril. T’Sai’s inspection gave him the confidence to attempt to open the entrance, but it was seemingly misplaced, as a massive magical explosion blew him back down the hallway.
Molish healed the Yuan-ti rogue, who was releaved to see that the doors were open following the blast. The walls of the room beyond were made of tightly-fit black bricks, and the floor consisted of solid sheets of black metal with white spirals painted upon them. Beams of light lanced down from three different unseen sources. A round door with arcane symbols drawn upon it was set in the far wall.
While making his way through the shadowy path across the room, T’Sai’s arm briefly entered a lance of light, burning him with radiant damage. Halfway through the light beams, double doors gave way and dropped T’Sai into a pit trap. At the bottom of the pit was a symbol painted on the floor depicting a black skull with a key in its mouth, covered in arcane looking runes. By the time Thaminor made his way across the floor and Pix levitated over to above the pit, the trap doors had closed. Pix dropped a waterskin, triggering them open once more. After T’Sai’s first failed attempt to climb out, something on the floor caught his eye: hidden amongst the symbols was a crescent symbol that had a slight seam along its edge. Pushing on the crescent caused it to spring out, the backside shaped almost as if it were a handle. Of course, this went with him as he finally climbed out of the pit.
Upon finally making it across the room to the far door, the party realized that the crescent-shaped device matched perfectly with a cut-out section on the door. Inserting the crescent, they heard a soft click, and the handle turned…
