Celestiah researches and finds out more about the Star’s Return Blades. The master who made them was Lyra Stellarum. He collaborated with an astromancer from the Etherian Academy. The noble who commissioned them was Lord Deverus. This was meant to protect his daughter from the Shadowtech Consortium. They were trying to recruit her for her natural talents in celestial magic. Lyra forged the blades under a meteor shower. The astromancer then built the blades under 3 different celestial events so they are bound to the cycles of the stars.

Lupin greases some palms and finds out some information from Xavier Copperhand, a halfling. He says that the security is extremely tight. At the Rusty Nail Tavern, after the fourth ale he says that the wards flicker momentarily when the sound changes. Prof. Helena Vale carries the key to the wards. The champaign toast at 8:30 is a good time to strike; most of the guards will be in the main hall during this time. The exhibit runs until 11pm.

Gordon goes to the Dwarves’ Guild and talks with his people. Unfortunately he doesn’t find anything.

Felric goes to the city archives and finds the building’s blueprints. The 7 main areas are the Grand Foyer, the Central Atrium (with glass dome), East Wing (pendulum is here), West Wing (manuscripts archive), North Gallery, South Gallery, and Staff Corridors. There doesn’t seem to be any sort of a second exit but we could look into the sewer layout. He tries to look into the main city’s drainage system but is not successful.

Korgrath snatches a servant and finds out that the servants will be freshening the flowers at 5:30. The shift changes every 30 minutes.

We aren’t sure that we have a plan, but we will try our best. We head to the event right on time. There are many academics here in fashionable attire, and aspiring students.

Lupin recognizes Orla Brightgear, she has a shop with precious instruments. He chats her up and she says she’s interested in the device but doesn’t know much about it. She says that the hostess was here earlier but she hasn’t seen her in a bit.

When we go by the pendulum, it creates a sense of calm here. We notice that we are feeling others’ emotions and also their thoughts. Celestiah assenses the item and the wards. She thinks that she would be able to remove them with her abilities. She sets up an illusion that makes the room look like everything is normal at the threshold of the door. She then removes the ward from around the main pedestal, and then puts a sack over the device.

Korgrath and Gordon start a brawl and draw the attention of the four guards. One of them runs out to get more help. Felric tries to stop him but fails. The dwarf and ork try to leave through the servant’s wing.

Celestiah and Lupin hoof it out of there.

Lupin purchases a sword cane for defense.

Felric purchases a set of knives called “The Stars Return Blades.” These were made by a weaponsmith who worked with an astromancer to create the weapons. I’ve heard rumors that the blades dissolve into light after thrown and then rematerialize in their case. Felric negotiates and brings the price down to 60 from the original 70.

Gordon the Dwarf looks for a handaxe that will help him as a healer. He considers a couple of options and settles on the Life Mender’s Hatchet, which leeches the life force from a downed foe and captures the energy as a healing spell for later. Gordon negotiates as well and pays 110 gold.

We head back to the Menagerie and speak the password “teapot” again. Celestiah shows Marlowe the item and he is able to see through the illusion. He inspects it and is extremely pleased. Celestiah asks Marlowe what he intends to do with it, and he says that it is one of the most powerful and useful magical items in existence, and that he would never sell it; it will be kept here so it is safe and can be used for our adventures.

Marlowe goes to the register and gets us the rest of our money — 600 gold each!

We see several more curious things in the room. One is a “temporal stabilizer”. There is also a clockwork songbird, musical mechanical flowers, focusing lenses, and a consciousness vessel. We see some blueprints that say “experimental device” and it looks like he was working on something to do with memory capture. He explains that the sphere it’s a consciousness vessel that can hold parts of personality for preservation. He shows us a crystal that can capture more of a mind and preserve it.

Felric asks him why this is important to him. He says it’s his life work. He gets more serious and asks if we’ve ever lost someone. Lupin says yes. He says that he lost his sister Evelyn, and it’s her song that is playing on one of the other devices. He wants to bring her consciousness back, as a final end goal.

He goes to a spider-looking device with a crystal on it. He activates it a holographic map appears. The Thaumaturgical Society event tonight is hosting an item called the “Harmonic Pendulum” that can help to hold consciousness patterns. He says that he has tickets for us, and our job is to retrieve this item. The pendulum will be in the east wing under moderate guard. He gives us a small bag of mechanical scarabs that could provide a distraction for us.

The pendulum is encased in a hexagonal crystal display. It is brass and silver alloy and emits a humming sound that changes pitch every 3 minutes. The exhibit will close tomorrow, so this is time sensitive. He gives us 250 gold each as a down payment, and says that we can choose an “uncommon” item from his collection once the pendulum has been collected.

We decide to go to Lupin’s haberdasher, Madame Lillian’s Emporium. Marlowe says that he has arranged for reasonable pricing for us. After we get fancy clothing that would fit in during the event, we head back to our homes and get to sleep for the night.

We sit down, and suddenly Gordon knocks over a small item. It crashes to the floor and a strange liquid splashes everywhere. In an instant, we are outside and about to knock on the door again. All of us remember being inside, but it appears that time has rewound somehow. Celestiah probes the magic with her senses and it seems that this was a charm that was imbued with magical power and made us believe through an illusion that we were actually inside.

Felric, instead of knocking, speaks the password “teapot” as we were previously instructed. The door slides open of its own accord. Inside it’s dark and noticeably more sparse than what we just saw. Venturing inside, we hear someone shuffling down the stairs. It is the same man, but he looks older and less glamorous.

He says “Let’s have tea for real this time.” We do introductions and he offers us 4500 gold with 1500 up front (300 apiece) for retrieval of the first magical item that he wants us to find. Then, a percentage of the sale price of the items.

We need to seek out the Chronologist to find the item. He has an item called a Chronometric Resonator that could help us. He is in the Shadow District, in the Shifting Market part of the city. The way we find him is using an item that the man hands us. It looks like a pocket watch with 3 hands, gold, silver and copper. They all spin at different speeds, but when we’re close to the Chronologist, they will all come together and point toward him. The marketplace randomly appears in one of the districts of the city, during the 3 nights of the New Moon. Day 1 is actually today, and it will be in the Shadow District.

The item we’re looking for is a compass, but rather than pointing north, it points toward important things. This will help us to find other items that have magical potential.

He gives us all contracts to sign. We look them over and find that there are several binding runes and hidden sections that can only be seen if the paper is held up at an angle. One says that we are bound by the agreement across timelines. Celestiah negotiates with him about several of the items. He takes a moment but then he agrees, and the contracts are magically changed. We sign and take a moment to enjoy drinks before we leave.

It is about a 30 minute walk to the market from here. When we arrive, the street doesn’t look any different than normal, but as we enter we see that the market is made up of many spheres — cobblestones, or sand, or grass. Each of them is from a different area of the world and each is easily accessible to us. The market is very active with many people buying and selling.

We ask some of the merchants where the Chronologist may be, but they seem to either not hear us or get distracted with another customer rather than answering us. Celestiah uses her “Star Sight” to find out where we will need to be to find them. Apparently in 17 minutes, when a star aligns with the spire of a building, the Chronologist will be revealed.

We wait for the appointed time, and the nearby clocks all align as reality seems to twist. The compass hands all point toward the door. Passersby go around this space and don’t seem to know it exists. A door appears. Celestiah checks it magically to see if it is dangerous. She gets a bad headache but apparently it’s not a threat. We go in and see a strange room with impossible geometry and shelves lined with many items. We see on a throne a young boy with white hair and clock faces in his teeth.

Felric helps Celestiah up and walks her into the room. He feels a strange catlike kinship as he gets near to her. Peering into her magical amulet, he sees an avatar of a cat.

The boy remarks “Ah, Marlowe’s associates. And on time, this time!” Maximillian asks him if he can help us. He responds cryptically saying that we need to help him deal with Helena Vale first. Suddenly a woman comes into the room. She has jet black hair with a streak of copper in it. She is nearly 6 feet tall and in her early 40s. She has a stiff posture and looks almost militaristic. We see others who dressed like her come in as well, in total there are 2 men and 2 women.

Lupin introduces himself to the woman. She responds with her name and says that she is with the Thaumaturgical Society. He says that we are here looking for a “Time Turner” that will allow a person to go back and fix one mistake. She finds this interesting, but will not reveal what her group is looking for at first. He charms her a bit and she mentions that they are trying to find a compass.

Celestiah looks around the room for the compass and, using her magical ability, she’s able to find a small box. The Chronomancer looks up with surprise and mutters “An astromancer with star-sight, fascinating.” He gestures and the box floats over to the counter. He calls it the Chronometric Compass, crafted by Captain Elias Timewell during the convergence of the spheres when the barriers between universes were at their thinnest. It has rings on the outside with a shining crystal inside. It has runes that shift when not observed.

Lupin introduces the woman to Felric and says that he is an expert who may be able to help her find the compass. Felric bluffs and starts helping her, though in truth he has no idea what he’s talking about.

Celestiah asks the Chronomancer what he would trade for something like this. He says that he deals in memories. She suggests a memory of when she was much younger living in the forest, gazing at the stars with her best friend. He accepts the trade. After the purchase, Celestiah enchants the box so anyone looking at it will see a sextant rather than a compass.

We exit the building and as we do, the place ceases to exist. No time has passed since we entered.

Lupin looks for a magical cane for himself.

(aka Women’s Linens)

A peculiar invitation arrives, penned in flowing script that occasionally sparkles with traces of arcane residue:

Dearest Potential Associates,

Perhaps you’ve noticed the recent changes at 73 Silversmith’s Row in the Merchant’s Quarter—the old Blackhaven Trading Post has shed its decades of dust and cobwebs. The creaking sign that once announced “CLOSED INDEFINITELY” has been replaced with a gleaming brass placard reading “Marlowe’s Menagerie: Curios, Curiosities, & Commodities Most Peculiar.”

I, Thaddeus Marlowe, formerly of the Collegiate Arcanum’s Department of Paranatural Procurement (and yes, that rather dramatic departure involving the Dean’s prized singing crystal was greatly exaggerated), have invested my life’s savings in this establishment. The previous owner, poor old Maurice Blackhaven, disappeared under rather mysterious circumstances involving a cursed music box and what witnesses describe as “an unfortunate incident with time itself.” The Merchant’s Guild assured me that after seven years, the property rights default to new ownership, and any temporal anomalies are strictly the previous owner’s responsibility.

But I digress! The shop itself is a marvel—three stories of aged oak and weathered stone, with windows that seem to peek into impossible angles and a cellar that, I’m quite certain, occasionally rearranges itself. The previous inventory is… well, let’s call it “eclectic.” Thus far I’ve catalogued:

• Seventeen empty bottles labeled “Bottled Starlight (DO NOT OPEN INDOORS)”
• One seemingly ordinary sock that keeps trying to hop back to its original owner
• A collection of maps to places that may or may not exist yet
• And a rather insistent cheese wheel that whispers stock market advice

While fascinating, these curiosities alone won’t sustain a proper business. This is where you come in, my enterprising friends. I require individuals of particular talent and discretion who can help me acquire inventory of a more… specialized nature. The Merchant’s Quarter is experiencing unprecedented growth, and the nobility’s appetite for the exotic and arcane has never been greater.

I offer generous commission rates, access to my network of collectors, and the protection of my various licenses and permits (most of which are even legitimate). More importantly, I offer adventure—the chance to seek out the extraordinary and bring it back to eager customers who possess more gold than common sense.

If interested, please present yourself at the shop’s rear entrance tomorrow at sunset. Knock thrice, wait for the door to finish its riddle (the answer is always “teapot,” regardless of the question), and enter prepared for a discussion of terms. Do mind the umbrella stand—it’s not actually an umbrella stand, and we’re still not entirely sure what it is.

With Anticipation,
Thaddeus Marlowe
Proprietor, Procurer, & Occasional Problem-Solver

P.S. If you happen to encounter a sock hopping down Guild Street, do be a dear and catch it. Its original owner has been quite persistent about a reunion.

—

Local rumors whispered in taverns and alleyways:

“That Marlowe fellow? Odd sort, but honest enough. Saw him talk down an angry ghost with nothing but a tea service and some compliments about its hat.”

“The shop’s got a reputation. Old Blackhaven was collecting things that shouldn’t exist. Some say the whole building’s like a puzzle box, with rooms that only appear on certain days of the week.”

“My cousin’s friend swears she saw Marlowe haggling with a dragon over the price of its shed scales. Used a pie chart and everything. The dragon apparently found his accounting methods quite persuasive.”

The strange note is received by the five of us. We are:

• Celestiah Elunthiel, a High Elf Wizard
• Korgrath, an Ork Fighter
• Felric Ashfur, a Catfolk Scholar
• Maximillian Lupin, a Human Thief
• Gordon, a Dwarvish Healer

After receiving our cryptic invitations, which were addressed to each of us personally, we all gather at the appointed time at Marlowe’s shop.

This is the city of Vale’s End. It is a huge city, and we are in the bustling merchant’s corner, on Silversmith Row. There is a rich artifact trade here. It is twilight and the lanterns are glowing. There are strong scents of ozone, coffee and embers.

In the past there were 3 magical disasters here, so magic is restricted. The most recent one was the Brass Plague, which nearly destroyed the infrastructure of the city.

The future party members pleasantly exchange names. Most are just here for a job, but Celestiah and Felric seem to be here for arcane knowledge of some kind. Maximillian says that he wishes to employ his “particular skills” with this job. We are left to guess what that may mean.

Marlowe’s building is made of wood and stone, and the windows are in odd places. Felric notices that they shift when not observed. There is a humming sound within and frequent dlashes of light. There are enchantments and barriers throughout, which Celestiah senses keenly. We know nothing of the owner except what he related in his letter.

The door opens and a man with a false eye answers. The eye is mechanical and it quickly scans us all. He breaks into a friendly smile and welcomes us in.

There is tea set out for us. We sit down and partake, ready to hear what our potential employer has to say.