Char was actually fairly pleased with the option Arien took. He was desperately hoping for some divine intervention, and any chance was better than none, for he really had no idea how to beat this demon child. He followed Maximus into the room and swooped off to the right side weapons at ready. He scanned the room as quickly as he could and suddenly realized he had never been in a more uncomfortable situation. There were books everywhere.

The ranger's spine was already crawling when the book crashed open and the pages started flipping. He couldn't repress the startled jerk he made at the sound, nor stepping back away from it involuntarily with his swords up and held defensively before him.

"Uh," Char blinked through his curtain of hair. "I tink i' be fer you, Kilgim."

The knot of tension that had tied itself between Flynn’s shoulders since the party’s arrival at this place, and had pulled itself ever tighter as they had progressed, at last began to ease when they entered the room suggested by the ghosts of lost loved-ones. A great sense of peace and safety washed over the bard the moment he stepped through the door. So strong and sudden was that sense of serenity that, had he not been so fascinated by the collection of books and scrolls that now surrounded him, Caicher might have found it more than a bit disturbing. He was fascinated by the expansive collection of lore, though, so he allowed himself to succumb to the prevailing air.

“Fantastic,” the bard whispered, feeling the need to sweep the hat from his head, as his glittering eyes panned over the place, “Imagine the knowledge and tales contained, here…” He took a few steps toward a floor-to-ceiling bookcase and, almost hesitantly, reached out a hand as if to brush fingers across the spines of the volumes there. “…imagine how long it would take to read them all…”

Caicher’s fingers stopped just short of coming in contact with those books as the sound of a tome being opened and its pages turned as if blown by a wind reached his ears. His gaze was drawn to the sound, of course… One of the others must have found something already… and he turned toward it in anticipation of the call that would surely go out. He couldn’t decide whether or not he was actually surprised to catch sight of a large book atop the desk rifling through its own pages… None of the others were close enough to have turned those pages by either accident or design, let alone open the thing… and there was no wind here, was there?... After the puppets and the spiders, though, was it so surprising to stumble upon a book that read itself?

Char thought so, apparently… The ranger couldn't repress the startled jerk he made at the sound of the flipping pages, nor his involuntarily stepping away from; swords up and held defensively before him.

"Uh," Char mumbled apprehensively. "I tink i' be fer you, Kilgim."

Then the bard smiled and, as he swept the myriad copper braids of his hair back under his hat, moved purposefully yet respectfully toward the desk…The Magician… he recalled the card from his reading and, for an instant, imagined the sage man depicted on the card sitting behind that desk and searching that book for a crucial bit of information… “No need for the blades, friend Char,” Flynn offered with a wink, “tis only a book… Knowledge and wisdom as opposed to destruction and chaos, hm?

Someone...or something... is trying to tell us something, I think…”

((OOC: okay, so I think Flynn is apt to get close enough to the desk and the book to be able to get a look at what’s on the page(s) to which it opened but will do his very best not to disturb anything in the process… also minding where he steps as he goes, hoping not to trigger any heretofore unnoticed traps/alarms/what-not…))

As Maximus waited for Arien to pick which way the party would travel, the newest member of the party, the bard Flynn drew a pack of cards from a pouch at his side. Explaining their use of predicting the future, Flynn shuffled and placed the cards 1 by 1 until he had placed in all a crossed group of 7.

“That is very clear for a reading.” The bard remarked as he stood once more, “Wisdom and knowledge lies to the south while destruction and chaos await us to the east.”

“I’ll take Wisdom then over the chaos.” Arien finally spoke to all, “Dapple, check the door our host is leading us toward. Maximus – stand ready to open the door.”

With a nod of his head to the Knight Maximus did as he was asked and stood ready as the boy thief scanned and checked the door for traps. At his nod that the door was clear the big ex-gladiator stepped forward and quickly opened the door to reveal nothing more dangerous then row upon row of books. After a few minutes he felt very relaxed, in truth a feeling as he had not felt in remembered days, and was perhaps a little wary of the truth of such feelings. His vorpal held a little tighter, his shield ready before him, he intensified his awareness of his surroundings.

Now the big ex-arena fighter was not stupid, far from it, but he had never really had the chance to learn to read. Staying alive vs. foes seeking his death at least 3 times a week had taken priority. One day perhaps in his retirement, if he lived so long, he would learn however for the moment he had no real use for it.

It was these thoughts that were in his head as suddenly one of the books on the main desk opened, the pages flipped violently and the cover making a loud crash as it settled. The book now opened to about three quarters through it’s content. With no wind to cause it to do such and no one, at least visibly, close enough to touch the book it was clear to Maximus magic or spirits were involved.

Clearly he was not alone as Char thought so also as the ranger couldn't repress the startled jerk he made at the sound of the flipping pages, nor his involuntarily stepping back and away from the books resting place. With both of his swords raised up and ready he brought the matter to the dwarf Kilgim’s attention.

"Uh," Char mumbled apprehensively. "I tink i' be fer you, Kilgim."

However before Kilgim could reply or make a move forward the Bard Flynn beat him to it. Speaking and stepping towards the desk.

“No need for the blades, friend Char, tis only a book… Knowledge and wisdom as opposed to destruction and chaos, hm? Someone...or something... is trying to tell us something, I think…”

Maximus at first wanted to stop the Bard as Char had shortly before stopped him but something inside told him to let Flynn continue forward. Watching as the Bard showed his Thief side, Maximus continued to scan the places he could see for any lurking danger.........

Dapple shuddered unconsciously every moment she was in the library, like a beast warding off a buzzing fly. From Sunset's relaxed pose and some of the expressions around her, she had little need to be on guard, but the sense that something was trying to manipulate her, give her feelings that weren't her own.

Safe? Welcome? Protected? Illusion and trickery! Only in death will you ever know peace, little monster The acid comment braced Dapple's spine, gave her the clarity of thought and purpose that she needed. She glided around the room, looking for anything that might hint at why they'd been guided here, glancing only peripherally at book titles as she did so. She couldn't recall if she'd ever shown that she could read around the others...it wasn't a common skill among street urchins, and she'd no love for books. Only valuable to a select market, and too hard to figure out the valuable books from the dross.

BAM! FLLLLLLPPPTTT! FLLLLLPPPTT!

Dapple nearly jumped out of her cloak, spinning with knives drawn, to see a book apparently flip through its own pages, and the heavy cover being the loud crash that had startled her. Seeing Char similarly armed and ready made her feel slightly better, but Flynn's flippant and airy admonishment set her teeth on edge.

“No need for the blades, friend Char,” Flynn offered with a maddening wink, “tis only a book… Knowledge and wisdom as opposed to destruction and chaos, hm?

Someone...or something... is trying to tell us something, I think…”

"Have a look then, friend growled Dapple, drawing back and making no move to put her daggers away. "I've no wish to be turned into a frog by some magicked book. Leave tricks to the tricksters, and magic to the magicians."

I don' tink so, Char thought in answer to the bard's comments. All the same, as Flynn began approaching the tome and Da'Moon tossed her own acerbic comment after the musician, Char lowered his blades. Moving to a position allowing him a better angle of the whole of the room, the ranger kept his weapons in hand while he began the long, sometimes mundane, chore of searching the room for secret doors or compartments.

Unbelievable... bartering our lives on a parlor trick.
Adrian was not at all thrilled with the idea, but there weren't any real good options. At least Maximus would take the brunt of whatever came from that room.
Luckily, and Adrian was sure it nothing more than luck, Flynn's cards seemed to have proven right. At least for the moment.

"I can see why you made a living for yourself playing the minds and emotions of fools. You have quite the lucky draw, soothsayer. Just remember not to get too reliant on magic. The entirety of this place is overwhelmed with it. Any and all spells should assume to function differently until proven otherwise."

HIs soapbox was interrupted by the opening and flipping of a certain book, done so through magical means. A trap? A curse? A sign? Hard telling in this place.

Someone...or something... is trying to tell us something, I think…” Flynn stated as he went to read. Adrian followed suit. "Perhaps, or perhaps some part of the contingency set up by the priests? Go ahead and take a look, I'll scan the rest of the area and see if anything stands out."

And with that Adrian summoned up a Detect Magic spell and began looking around, with the hopes that within the sanctuary whatever dazzled him last time wouldn't be here to ensnare him. Either way he was ready.

(OOC: detect magic, scan the room, book, everything, and of course be ready to step in if Flynn or Kilgim need help with something.)

It seemed at first like Kilgim's warnings about a trap fell on deaf ears, but then Flynn cast some bardic spell which indicated that following the ghosts the others had seen, was ok. The bald warrior-priest shrugged. He didn't know anything about bardic tricks and it didn't really matter to him. The holy place had been fouled by the mysterious evil, spider controlling entity and it needed to be destroyed. It was all the same to Kilgim when and where it happened. If it was a trap, then at least they all were ready for it.

The orange-bearded dwarf followed his companions into the room and was taken by surprise by its contents. Of course there wasn't anything odd about a library in an abbey as such. Scholars tended to gather tomes and scrolls around them no matter what their field of specialty was. And priests or monks weren't any different. Hell, he'd personally grown in the middle of books, religious and not. Although the clerics of Clangeddin also trained heavily in the art of warfare, lore and wisdom were also central parts of their training. And even if Kilgim personally preferred solving problems with the Blackaxe, he did love the smell and feel of books.

The cleric turned to browse at some book backs on the shelf by the door when there was a loud crash from behind him, in the middle of the room. The dwarf swirled around with the axe at the ready only to see Char step back from a large open tome on a table. From the rangers stance, Kilgim couldn't tell whether Char had seen something evil in the book he'd apparently opened or if there was some unseen enemy nearby. He knew the woodsman wasn't shaken easily by anything, but something had surely caught him by surprise.

"Uh," Char blinked through his curtain of hair. "I tink i' be fer you, Kilgim."

Before the dwarf could comply, Flynn and Adrian had made their way to the book and the mage was casting some spell no doubt to check the tome and the room out. It was all well with Kilgim. The wizard's magic was probably better suited for such things anyway. Slowly and carefully the dwarf moved to stand beside the bard and took a peek at the book.

Adrian casts a detect magic and is relieved to see this room has no threads dangling everywhere. The room is magical, that is sure. There is a spell woven into the very walls and doorway that Adrian recognises as divine in nature although he knows not of the prayer specific. There is also a underlying trace of magic in the room, but not strong enough to say what it is – almost as if something powerful passed through and left traces in the air it did.

The book is a journal, kept by the record keeper of the temple. The journal has opened to around six months ago. Looking over the entries, there is a more personal nature to the entries at this point.

Found another reference in the tomes of a “fallen one” or great power. The more I find these the more I think the legend is true. Spoke to the Lord Abbott about my theory but he dismissed it saying there is no way Zephur could have trapped a divine being, and even if he did, he wouldn’t have the power to contain it or siphon power from it.

(few days later) Against the Abbott’s wishes, I went down the shaft today. So many stairs! Need to see the caverns myself. Found nothing for my troubles except a woman’s comb that was at the bottom of the shaft and a number of broken pieces of pottery. The Abbott was furious with me, and forbid me to go down there again. He even took all the pottery and the comb from me.

(week later) The Abbott has had a change of heart and told me to continue with my exploration. Things I may be on to something and we must do all in our power to reverse Zephur’s evil.

(week later) Was down in the shaft today, and still it seems to be deserted. I am trying to be meticulous in my search but there is so much to explore. I reported to the Abbott about the lack of finding and he was encouraging though. Strange though, he seems to be growing hair again.

(week later) I heard a noise in the in the shaft today – sounded like tapping or rock hitting rock. Not sure where it was coming from though, as sound is tricky down there.

(week later) I have been so engrossed in my studies that I did not see the change in the Abbott. He has grown long black hair and is become ... I do not know how to say except thinner and almost feminine. He says he feels fine and won’t stand any questioning.

(many weeks later) There is definitely something in the shaft – I hear voices speaking, almost elven in sound but not an elven I have heard before. I stayed in the caverns for a number of nights trying to locate the sounds. I am back for supplies only. Father Jacob has left me many notes that he wishes to speak to me about the abbott but it will have to wait.

(weeks later) I don’t know where to start. Thsi woman came to me as I explored the caverns. She was so beautiful, beguiling so and we ... I couldn’t... Together ... I can not write of it in this book. I fear there is a great evil afoot here and a great power for good held prison against its will. I will ....
There are no more entries after that which was about two weeks ago. There are many books and scrolls in the room, so much that it would take years to search them all. Adrian sees no tome or scroll that reveals magic to his spell.

As Maximus stood guard while Adrian moved over to the now open book he saw no threat from anything in the room but he could not but feel something was watching them. Though his attention was on the safety of the group he could not help but catch a few of the passages as Adrian read aloud from the journal before him.

“Found another reference in the tomes of a “fallen one” or great power. The more I find these the more I think the legend is true. Spoke to the Lord Abbott about my theory but he dismissed it saying there is no way Zephur could have trapped a divine being, and even if he did, he wouldn’t have the power to contain it or siphon power from it.”

(week later) Was down in the shaft today, and still it seems to be deserted. I am trying to be meticulous in my search but there is so much to explore. I reported to the Abbott about the lack of finding and he was encouraging though. Strange though, he seems to be growing hair again.

(week later) I have been so engrossed in my studies that I did not see the change in the Abbott. He has grown long black hair and is become ... I do not know how to say except thinner and almost feminine. He says he feels fine and won’t stand any questioning.

(weeks later) I don’t know where to start. This woman came to me as I explored the caverns. She was so beautiful, beguiling so and we ... I couldn’t... Together ... I can not write of it in this book. I fear there is a great evil afoot here and a great power for good held prison against its will. I will...”
It was this last part that caught the ex-gladiator’s attention the most. A beautiful women here perhaps the spider in some form of disguise?
Turning to look over at Adrian, Maximus remarked to him and the rest.

“Perhaps this lady, the one who wrote this journal speaks of, is the female spider we now face, but in some form of disguise?”
Maximus left the question hanging awaiting a response.....

Char remained nervous through the reading of the passages; unable to rest easy in a room made more unnatural by the presence of the supernatural than the standard dwelling the ranger remained at the alert. He moved from his position near the bookshelves to the door and stood beside it seemingly at rest, but straining to listen outside of it for the sound of anything approaching. He hear the words spoken by Adrian and registered them well enough (as well as an uneducated bloke from the Wild Coast could), and when Maximus offered up the suggestion concerning the spider and its possible association with the strange, attractive woman the monk had encountered and alluded to a more physical relationship with in these tunnels he'd mentioned Char thought it a decent assumption. He wasn't much aware of the full capabilities magic provided having only really witnessed the results of war wizards and priests in action, but he couldn't dismiss the idea that it could provide someone with the ability to disguise themselves. So, the ex-pit fighter's suggestion was as sound as any to the woodsman.

"I do-nuh preten' dat I can guess a' da mageek dis book is abou', bu' da concern I 'ave come from da evil trappin' da goo'." Looking over to Kilgim, Char pushed a bit of his curtain of tangled hair from his sky-blue eyes and raised his brow. "Seems t' me dat dis fell bein' trap a god, den kill all de monks an' pries' in da 'ouse t' use as puppe's when we comes in. Dat some power t' be reckon' wit' t' be sure, is it no' me dwarven frien'?

"Den der be de tunnels mention' by de fellow, an' dis comb dat in my opinio' turns de men int' de womens, an' such. Tunnels'd be down mos' likely, bu' I be tinkin' dat dis comb migh' be 'avin' somet'ing t' do wit' da power dis bein' possess. We fin' da comb, an' we migh' be able t' des'roy i' an' take away da spid-uh woman power."

The end was almost a question, and though it was posed mainly to Kilgim, the scruffy woodsman glanced at each of his companions in turn to make sure they all knew it was theirs as much as it was the dwarf's to answer. When one grows up around the campfires of soldiers they hear a lot of tales about powerful magical artifacts. Char had felt a twinge of intuition when the comb and the capturing of a deity were mentioned, and he was nothing if not a man capable of acting on intuition.

"May be," he continued while his friends were still trying to decipher what he'd said. "We fin' de Abbo'-fellow's room an' see if'n he-she keep da comb der."

As Adrian began and carried through the casting of the spell, Kilgim recognized it as something he would have used as well - detection for magical energies. Although the spells of wizards varied from the prayers of the priests, there were some similarities yet. This particular spell was so commonly used by both the magicians of the Iron League as well as his fellow priests at the temple of the Father of Battle, that he would probably have recognized it with eyes and ears shut.

The dwarven cleric could not of course see what it was Adrian's eyes beheld when the spell took effect, but he could guess. He was in no doubt there were magical tomes and scrolls all over the library and probably some protective spells as well. There was no hint of the evil being's presence in the library, so perhaps the monks had placed some wards over their most valuable treasure, knowledge, to keep out any malicious entities. Then again Kilgim knew he could be wrong. It might well be that the creature was only interested in living things as many of them did. Maybe it only wished to kill, conquer and kill some more. The thought sent shivers down the stout dwarf's back…

Turning his attention back to the tome on the table, Kilgim noticed Adrian had already read through a few pages and was turning to the last one containing writing. He was no master of handwritings, but these notes were written so clearly it was easy for him to read too. Beautiful... evil... great goood... O'Lord, give us guidance. The dwarf took a step back and waited for the mage to speak up. But apparently deep in thought Adrian never managed to spill out his concerns before Maximus cleared his throat: “Perhaps this lady, the one who wrote this journal speaks of, is the female spider we now face, but in some form of disguise?”

Perhaps so, me big friend. Perhaps so. Thought Kilgim. He had no better guess right now. Although he wouldn't be surprised to find things to be other way around. Perhaps the creature's true form had nothing to do with spiders. Then again perhaps it did. All he knew there was a powerful evil loose in the temple and there was only their group to stop it. No one else would come, not now and probably not in a long time either should they fail. Then ye mustn't fail, ye daft.
It was then that Char spoke up unexpected. Neither of the two men could exactly be called speakers, so something was clearly making them uneasy as well. And after having seen what the spider-woman (what else could he call it?) had done to the monks, Kilgim could not blame the two mighty warriors. He had butterflies in his stomach as well.

"I do-nuh preten' dat I can guess a' da mageek dis book is abou', bu' da concern I 'ave come from da evil trappin' da goo'." Char turned to look at Kilgim and pushed away a bit of his tangled hair from his face and raised a brow. "I do-nuh preten' dat I can guess a' da mageek dis book is abou', bu' da concern I 'ave come from da evil trappin' da goo'."

Kilgim took a deep breath and looked Char in the eye. "Aye me friend, so would it seem. I've no idea which god it could be though, if a god it is. None o' the great ones, me thinks. People tend t'notice such a thin'. Priests I mean. Mayhaps a lesser power…"

Char nodded and continued: "Den der be de tunnels mention' by de fellow, an' dis comb dat in my opinio' turns de men int' de womens, an' such. Tunnels'd be down mos' likely, bu' I be tinkin' dat dis comb migh' be 'avin' somet'ing t' do wit' da power dis bein' possess. We fin' da comb, an' we migh' be able t' des'roy i' an' take away da spid-uh woman power."

"Me knowledge on artifacts isn't too deep, I'm afraid. Never 'ave I 'eard o' combs doin' thin's like that. Could be that ye'r right though. Adrian?"