Tough As Dirt #18

Tough as Dirt continued on their way in Ology under the guidance of Master Thornton, heading towards the secure storage facility where Lillium's dangerous invention was being kept

Along the way, they saw the Benefactor, a smoky substance, rearranging the corridors and stonework of the tower city itself, making way for new rooms to encourage new areas of study

• As Gideon began to sketch the entity known as the Benefactor, he was stricken with a need to draw it with through the lens of his recent horrific visions experienced in Cypress

After the Benefactor had done its work, the group moved on down the new corridor to find a room depicting Sophivitas, which seemed to call directly to Gideon

The group entered the room to find the walls had been etched with two phrases, each in a variety of many languages. The phrases were "His army marks the end of days; we live to die a thousand ways," and "Where is Ordnung? Where is his shield?"

• These etchings seemed to be some kind of unnatural addition to the room however, as its true purpose was soon revealed

The group sat down at a table within the room and a detail-perfect scale model of the Grand Library of Emeral in Sophivitas emerged

• After dissecting it, Gideon found two figures who looked amazingly like his sisters, both of whom lived in Sophivitas, but rarely ever visited the Grand Library, like himself

• The group found a hidden compartment in the model, beneath the hearth in the main hall of the library was a subterranean section with a control panel, entitled "Modron Operations and Shut Down."

  • Not knowing what to make of it, Tough as Dirt left the model and continued on to the storage facility to conduct their assessment of Lillium's invention

Once there, they found Chalice, the woman from the lift, already in attendance. She easily bypassed the security of the vault in order to get her own inspection underway, an act that was concerning to Master Thornton, since he was the only one with the ability to get into the space supposedly.

Inside the group found a massive, jellyfish shaped inorganic object. Upon casting Identify, they were able to determine that device had the ability to reach a tendril to anyone in the world, healing them instantly. It accomplished this by having a small gate to Mt. Celestia, the seven heavens, a plane of life and abundance. 

• Thornton revealed the device was going to be sold to Chalice for thousands of gold, but more importantly, also for the chance to study and exume the body of the Elder Dragon Glainwing, which laid beneath Demon's Hollow

  • Thornton had heard tell of two girls who could raise the dragon from the dead, uniting the elven peoples of Lyr'Lowain, bringing peace to a wartorn country.

• The group managed to convince Thornton the device should not be sold to Chalice, or anyone, and that Lillium was needed to continue her work.

  • However, upon hearing the news she wouldn't be receiving the device, Chalice summoned two demons to her side and intended to take it by force.