On a bright summer day in 1492, the line to enter Candlekeep wound down the Way of the Lion, long and slow moving. A clump of dusty and bored adventurers struck up conversation. There was a burly gold Dragonborn, longsword and shield strapped to his back. Behind him stood a weary and solemn wood elf, battered, unkempt, and whose clothes looked a little worse for wear. Travelers squinted when they beheld the next adventurer: an elf, gold skin gleaming in the sunlight. A… was that a triton…? A triton, it appeared, stood behind the shining elf, smelling faintly of garlic and oregano, fingers stained with ink and a book held lovingly in his hands. Finally, an elf carrying a large ladle with various pouches strapped to his belt, joined in.
To enter Candlekeep, a traveler needed to donate a book that was not yet in the great library. Five purple robed figures at the gate seemed to debate over every traveler’s donation as they walked up; sometimes a figure would take the book and run off inside, and there would be a long pause until he came back, out of breath. More discourse, and the traveler would either be turned away or accepted inside.
An elf in similar purple robes – a uniform of some sort, perhaps? – walked up to the motley crew and asked for their names, noting them on a sheaf of parchment he held. The Dragonborn declared, “Akoko, at your service,” in an exotic accent. The wood elf said he was Ezra, and then, after a pause, added a rather long surname. The purple robed figure glanced at him side-eyed and rudely commented that this was “too long; didn’t write.” The elf that seemed improbably made of solid gold indicated that he was Malkath. The triton stumbled over his name, intending to say Marianis, but unfortunately it came out as Marinara… Lastly, the ladle bearing elf said he was Draksis, and sketched a short bow.
When they reached the drawbridge, they were asked to hand over their books. Akoko provided a manuscript entitled “A Cleric, A Druid, and a Dragon Walk into a Bar: The Musical,” and seemed happy to part with it.
Ezra, still clearly worse for wear, showed some distress through his stoicism, and was concerned whether his two companions, who he had to leave behind and feared were dead after their boat capsized, would be able to enter if he used his book for entry now. “I fear I am the sole survivor, and I was but a guard! From the start of my journey, from Osse, I have traveled for 432 days to get here. My mission is paramount!” The purple-robed elf collecting books paused, and replied, “You know that each traveler must provide their own book for entry. One book, one traveler. They must provide their own donations. However, if they arrive, they can ask a guard to send you a message, so you can meet with them then. I am Avowed Landris, if there are any issues.”
With some gravity, Ezra slowly held out his contribution: “Osse, the Uncharted Lands: A Millenia of History, Government, Religion, Maps, and Fact.”
Malkath, the shiny, and apparently prurient elf, smirked as he handed over a crudely illustrated, and I use this term loosely, book. “Here you will find the only copy of the Orcish Kama-Sutra, ‘Madh Kazaht’ or ‘Big Bull’- terribly illustrated with finger painting, but still intelligible.” Avowed Landris grimaced slightly as he collected the object, finding the surface a bit tacky, and looking at his fingers as they came away with some mixture of fascination and horror.
Marianis looked grave as he handed over his book. “Will I get this back?” Avowed Landris glanced at the title, “Landwalkers: A history.”
“A donation is a donation, Marinara.” Opening the book, he found it blank.
Marianis smiled grimly, and said, “It can only be read underwater.”
Avowed Landris looked impressed. “Interesting!” He paused and added, “You can pay the binders to make a copy of it for your self, if you wish. “
Draksis smiled at Avowed Landris, and handed over “Killing them with Food: A cookbook.” Looking down, Landris noted the subtitle, “Some times you want to kill it, sometimes you just want to kill.”
“It’s a special cookbook,” said Draksis, still grinning. “I will also have to make a copy, as I don’t want to be without it.”
After some discussion, a runner, who took the books up to the keep, came back empty handed with a favorable result, and so the group was granted admittance. On the way through the gate, Avowed Landris asked if they would like a guide, to which they all nodded. It was coming on evening by this time.
After a moment, their guide, a 72 year old man, hunched over with a long white beard and a limp, was lead over to them. He declared his name was Orin, and asked what they were looking for at Candlekeep.
Malkath said he was an avid anthropologist, studying humanoids such as orcs and goblins. Draksis was in search of new and exotic recipes and ingredients. Akoko kept mum, but Marianis, who despite his best efforts, was now called “Marinara” by his companions, described his desire for knowledge about landwalkers, as he was from the deepest parts of the sea. As they spoke, Orin, who clearly was more than a little deaf, would occasionally shout, “What???! What? Speak up!!”
Ezra pondered a moment and mentioned that he was looking for help with a problem at home. “A blight has taken over our forests back home in Osse… I have traveled for 432 days to get here, and I fear that my two companions did not survive our boat capsizing. I was just an escort, our sage should have been the one here to help research the problem.” When hearing about the blight, Orin said – “You need Matreous! He knows a thing or two about blights. It’s his specialty!”
Ezra asked, “Where can I find him?”
Orin answered, “Probably at the tavern! He likes a good ale.”
Orin introduced them to the open courtyard on the other side of the entry gate. “This is the Court of Air!” He walked them around, showing them the baths, the stables and smithy, the inn, “House of Rest,” where they could stay (the inn looked small from the outside, but Orin assured them that through the magic of extra-dimensional spaces, the inn had quite a capacity!), a clothiers shop, the binders’- where there books could be copied, and most importantly, the tavern, which had a sign proclaiming it to be “The Hearth.” Orin hinted quite spectacularly that he would love a drink as a tip for his hard work guiding them around Candlekeep’s Court of Air.
Upon entering the Hearth, the party saw it was a cheery, clean place, full of people. Notably, there was an orc sitting on the corner, with a fancy do-rag on his head. Malkath’s eyes lit up upon seeing him (which was quite a feat, since Malkath already looked to be made of solid gold) and made a beeline for the orc’s table. The orc was reading a book, turning pages slowly, but looked up as Malkath approached, “Hello!” he said, in a gravelly voice.
Malkath was fascinated. “How do you come to be here?” Although it was a bit of a rude question, the orc didn’t seem to mind. “Call me Li’l One. I once killed a halfling adventurer for this do-rag… do you like it?” Malkath gulped and nodded… “Yes, yes, it’s quite nice!” Li’l one went on – “Once I put it on, I got smarter after a bit. And then I kind of felt bad about killing the little halfling, so I call myself Li’l One now in his memory. I became hungry to learn more, and came to Candlekeep. What brings you here, shiny elf?”
“I love learning about goblins and orcs! I’m interested in goblin royalty, and looking for any research on the topic. Can you help me with this?”
“Let me think on this,” said Li’l One. “I will get back to you.”
Malkath, rejoining the party, bought a beer for the expectant Orin, who grinned amiably, and said “What?”
Ezra asked the bartender about Matreus, who unfortunately replied that he hadn’t been seen in a few days. Orin said, “We should check his study in the Pillars of Pedagogy behind the House of the Binders.”
The group decided to check in the morning, and call it an early night, save for Malkath, who proceeded to spend all night drinking. Orin reluctantly left after agreeing to help them get into the Pillars of Pedagogy in the morning.
Bright and early, the party assembled to meet for breakfast, finding Malkath still sitting at the table, bleary eyed and unfocused, swaying as if he were on a boat.
Orin negotiated their entry into th the Pillars of Pedagogy by speaking of the need to see Matreous, and his mysterious disappearance. He led them to the small stone cottage assigned to Matreous. Orin waited outside, speaking with some of the Avowed, as the party entered.
Inside, they found an ever-burning torch still lit over a desk containing a single book. The book had a portrait of male wizard’s face on the corner, and after a moment, one of the party realized it was Mordenkainen himself. The title of the book was “The Joy of Extra-Dimensional Spaces. It was open to a page, and there were neat hand scribbled notes in the margins. One word was underlined: “Scepter.” One of the adventurers inevitably read this aloud, and no sooner than this was done, a set of double doors appeared in the middle of the room! There was much debate about whether to open the doors, but it was clear that this had to be part of the mystery of the missing Matreus, and Ezra was determined to find him. The doors were opened and the party stepped through…. finding themselves in a grand foyer of what appeared to be a mansion, with a middle-aged man in gray robes, wearing a shocked expression, looking back at them. Under one arm was a shockingly life like statue of an imp.
“Thank goodness!” He cried, as he took them in and saw the open doors behind them. “I’ve been trapped here for a couple of days, trying to figure out how to leave, just saying random words to see if I could open the portal again!”
“Are you Matreus?” Ezra asked.
“Yes!”
“I’m looking for your help… there’s a blight destroying my forest back home in Osse!”
“Yes, blights are one of my research topics, I may be able to help. I need to get back to my studies, but I also want to learn more about this mansion – it’s a treasure trove of information! If I go back, can you guys keep searching this place for its secrets? I will happily help you with your blight when you return, and I will open the portal for you in a couple of days.”
The party looked at each other, thinking on it. Ezra felt the urgency, but it had already been so long, and he needed the help. If this was the way to get it…. As for the rest of the party, they couldn’t help but be intrigued by the mystery of this mansion, and were game to try.
Matreus was elated, and as soon as they nodded, he ran through the portal, only to give a startled yelp of pain and strangled cry shortly after. A splatter of blood made it through the portal just as the doors closed and the portal disappeared. Attempts to open the portal and the doors again were in vain.
The group was struck with the thought that Matreus may not be able to reopen the door for them. The examination of the mansion suddenly took on a less jovial and more urgent mood.
As they pondered where to start, Draksis said, “At the kitchen, of course!” And with that, he headed off down the hall to the right, sniffing occasionally, saying, “This way!” The party followed, led by Draskis’ nose. He stopped in front of a partially open door, saying, “The heavenly smells are coming from here!” and pushed the door fully open. Sure enough, walking inside, they saw a functioning kitchen and smelled the aroma of cooking food, with pots boiling on a stove with a fire burning underneath. The kitchen was sparkling clean, with racks lined with pots, pans, and cooking utensils. A cat curled up in the corner, near a ceramic bowl filled with water and another with some kitchen scraps inside.
Two winged, small humanoids suddenly landed in front of them, beaming and excited to see visitors. They bowed, asking what they could do for the party, and revealing that they were homunculi. The party understood that homunculi are created by powerful magic. The homunculi introduced themselves as Cumin and Coriander, and upon interrogation, revealed that their masters had long been absent, and they missed having company. Draksis was thrilled to bits by the culinary references and wouldn’t stop beaming at the tiny creatures. Cumin was created by a wizard named Fistandia, who also made this mansion, and Coriander was created by Freyot. They were warned to never touch the books with a single letter on the spine, and they didn’t know why. This caused the party some consternation, and they became instantly curious about the books.
The party asked for more information about the mansion. The homunculi warned about the arboretum: the faerie dragons there were mischievous, so better to avoid them, but overall harmless. They also mentioned that Fistandia used to go to the planetarium, and disappear for a long time; that something keeps building piles of books in the library, and that Fistandia’s imp hasn’t been seen in some time.
The party figures that Fistandia and Freyot must still be alive, because a master can only have one homunculus, and that homunculus dies when their master dies.
The party finally asked for directions to the library, figuring there might be more information to glean there, as well as the mysterious books that the homunculi were asked to never touch. They learned that the library was the last room at the far end of the hall, on the other side of the foyer.
Our questers headed to library, and found it, as expected, filled with books. Bookshelves lined the walls and also stood in the middle of the room, alongside reading desks and chairs in the corners. There was an untidy heap of books on the side of the room, near the freestanding bookshelves. As the party approached, a bookshelf toppled on top of them! Fortunately, all were able to jump clear, but then they found themselves attacked by the pile of books next to the shelves! As the hostilities began, Ezra tried to negotiate peacefully with the swarm of books, but found it fruitless, realizing that the swarm, maybe surprisingly, was not very smart, despite all the ink and words contained therein. In the end, Akoko skewered the book at the heart of the swarm with his longsword.
Upon searching the room, they found the shelves contained books on arcana, natural science, religion, astrology, planar travel, poetry and mythology. They also found one of the mysterious books with a single letter on the spine: “R”. After they all stood around looking at the book for a bit, questioning whether to touch it, Malkath cheerily broke the taboo and picked it up, adding it to his pack. On a desk, they found a jeweled letter opener. Ezra walked away from it, but looked back as Malkath pocketed it. “Thief,” muttered Ezra under his breath.
Leaving the library, they noticed a door leading out to a patio, and stepped outside. There, they saw that the mansion floated within a fog, 20 or so feet beyond the mansion, glowing with a blue light. The patio was paved with stone and curved around, but there was nothing remarkable about it.
Returning inside, Malketh pushed Akoko in the lead, with Ezra following, and they moved on down the hall to the next room. Inside, they discovered a training dummy and some weapon racks containing what looked to be good quality weapons. The dummy was scarred and burnt at the edges, as if it had been roughly used for practice. Surprisingly, a broom swept by itself in the far corner! Ezra used Detect Magic as ritual to discover that the broom was, unfortunately, the only magical thing in the room. Draksis, excited by the sight of a broom sweeping by itself, rushed over to grab the broom handle. The animated broom did not like this, and combat ensued, but in the end, the broom was no match for the party. The party decided to pass on the weapons, and moved on to the next room down the hall.
They opened a door to find a room with a writing desk and some bookshelves. Malketh, after searching the room briefly, had a revelation of godlike omnipotence- this must have been Fistandia’s study, because the books were all journals, apparently written by Fistandia. One of these journals indicated that there were 7 books scattered around the mansion with the clues to identify the means to open the exit portal, and he shared this with the rest of the party. These books must be the same as the ones that Cumin spoke of…. Speaking of which, there was one of these clue books on an armchair, with the letter “I” on its spine. Malketh, continued his search and found a secret door, with stairs leading down.
The party unanimously agreed to head down the stairs to see what they could discover. The stairs led down to a basement, where they took the first door they came to. Beyond that door was a hall, with a door in the middle of the hall and one at the end.
Opening the far door at the end of the hall way, the explorers discovered a room that could be described as a menagerie, of sorts… except that the inhabitants all seemed to be in jars and bottles, preserved, rather than in cages. Many jars lined the tables and shelves, containing all kinds of horrors, and the air smelled of alcohol and brine. One of the jars was noticeably broken, and missing its inhabitants. As the party all entered the room, four disembodied hands crawled towards them on the floor, followed by something sluglike… a slaad tadpole?!
The party prepared for combat, and found the claws fairly easy to dispatch, with a couple going down quickly. Akoko took a deep breath, and torched the remaining claws in one powerful exhale. Marianis lit a fire under the tadpole, and Malkath threw an acid spray on it, and between all the damage, it curled up and died.
Exiting the room, they opened the only other door they hadn’t yet been through in this hallway- and discovered a dark stone room, smelling faintly of sulfur, with a runic circle carved on the floor. In the corner, next to an empty bookstand, huddled a horny toad. Akoko used her paladin ability, Divine Sense, to find good and evil, and discovered that the toad was not as it appeared, but actually a tiny evil fiend! Malketh heaved his magic stone and with a powerful pull on his mighty slingshot, one shot the tiny fiend.
Ezra regarded the carved circle and runes on the floor, and bent down to touch the damaged stone. With his touch, the carved circle melted away into restored stone. The party wondered if they are now trapped, having removed a the potential portal location.
Returning back through the first door, they turned left and opened the only other door in the basement. The air here smelled of astringent chemicals. Long wooden tables stretched across the room, laden with vials, beakers, and flasks holding various liquids and powders. Books were stacked between the glassware and chemicals. Yellowed paper charts and blackboards full of complex formulas covered the walls. The books were all on chemical science and alchemy. The party was able to determine that the main goal of the research here was to transmute various materials into gold. Judging by the numerous scorch marks and acid burns on the furniture, the laboratory was the scene of several spectacular failures.
Four clay figures lay on a table in the middle of the room. They ranged from a rudimentary, barely humanoid shape to a small, winged body so lifelike that it almost appeared to be a real creature, merely asleep. The party understood that these were figures used for creating homunculi.
Several of the reagents here were quite valuable. By searching the room, the party gathered 50 gp of alchemical materials, along with two potions of healing, which Akoko stuck in her pack. Another prize in the room was a clue book propped up against a beaker, this one with the letter “B” on its spine. Malkath took it with the others.
At this point, the party had collected three clue books: “R”, “I”, and “B”, a jeweled letter opener worth 20gp, several reagents worth 50gp, and two potions of healing.
The party has each spent 1gp on lodging, for a total of 5gp, and Malkath drank away most of the 8sp worth of ale that was bought.