Location of the Order of the Purple Robes. Its architecture and wizardly robes follow a recurring astral and lunar motif.
Juran, a golem stationed by the Order of the Purple Robes received the Seekers at its entrance.
When the party arrived by teleportation, Lavinia was waiting for adventurers after sending requests for aid to Professor Ishmael in Calimsharn. According to her, Eszteban, the Magnificent sealed himself in the upper section where the archives are kept.
A formal dinner was scheduled to negotiate the party’s intervention terms. At that dinner, Juran, Lavinia, Baelgrak, Hrimmar, and Meredin met the party while Dagna served food. The gathering revealed strong friction among the mages of the order.
Tower Exploration
Before the party entered the upper levels, Lavinia contacted Maerik telepathically to warn him not to sleep inside the tower.
Room 1 — The entrance hall is decorated with murals depicting an ethereal figure representing the god Ao, the creation of Selûne, God of the Moon and Shar, the discovery of fire, and other milestones of civilization. Two Gorgons were defeated here.
Room 2 — Contains tiles with letters arranged as a puzzle. “The opposite of an ancient amphibian”; the answer is TADPOLE.
Room 3 / Split Corridors — A plaque reads: “Follow the left or right path to reach the end. A metal door here will help you go up.” The left corridor glowed blue and the right glowed red.
- Left corridor — Descends into extreme cold and a blizzard. The body of Valkus Skyrgela was found here, dead approximately one week, clutching a magical +1 defensive Quarterstaff in the style of the order’s wizards and a dagger with a broken tip. Before dying, he had written “Metal plaque” on the wall.
- Right corridor — Grows increasingly hot; the red torch gives way to green light.
Behind the original metal plaque in the beginning of the split there is a portal with a staircase that leads further up.
Obi diu Diva — An eccentric genie from the Plane of Fire, stationed as a guardian by Eszteban under a decade-long contract. He presented himself as a chess grandmaster and offered the party either a drinking challenge or a chess match. Visibly bored with his post, he was dismissed when the party used Banishment to send him back to his plane.
Gallery and Research Room — Portraits of the tower’s five mages line the walls, including Lavinia (depicted without the black mask and burns she currently bears), Valkus Skyrgela, and Eszteban (old and severe in expression). The room also contains stuffed birds and reptiles mounted on the walls, tomes, potions, and a large divination orb on a golden tripod.
A fake copy of the Great Discoveries was present and proved to be an acid trap with no useful content inside. Several scrolls were also found in the room: Comprehend Languages, Knock, and Blur. A chest contained 2500 GP and a key.
Seraphina looked into the divination orb and experienced a series of visions — see her page for details.
Eszteban’s portrait then became animated and ordered the party to leave the Citadel.
Sphinx Room — Beyond the locked door, the party encountered a Sphinx resting on a circular stone dais, wearing a golden tiara and bearing blank white eyes with no pupils. She posed a riddle: “What has 10 legs, 5 mouths to eat, and a short lifespan?” The Sphinx attacked without waiting for an answer. Because the riddle described 5 mouths while the party numbered only 4, the party theorized that an invisible entity was also present in the room alongside them (beyond the party’s ferret). The invisible presence was Meredin.
The room’s music induced magical sleep. During the dream, a demon-like minotaur creature appeared in ruins; an engraving of a moon in an unknown language formed a puzzle. Touching the moon three times caused a stone platform to rise, lifting the party into the upper library.
Upper Library — Contains multiple bookshelves, a table with potions and alchemical equipment. This is where the true Great Discoveries are housed. It was also where Eszteban was found, and where Meredin revealed himself and killed Eszteban.
Resolution
Eszteban was killed by Meredin, who had been poisoning him for years under a deal with Father Rogers. Meredin was subsequently arrested. The Order of the Purple Robes dissolved its single-leader structure and formed a council to govern the order. The party was granted access to the library.