[Gameplay] 8. Vault of Hidden Wisdom

Searching and assisted by magical detection, you find a 4th-level page of spell knowledge (Ultimate Equipment 314) containing the phantom chariot spell.

The room is a library and once you're ready to conduct research, you can find more information. That research is made once per full day of study, so best to clear the remainder of the dungeon first.

The two locations marked E4 are where the clockwork servants came from, and haven't yet been explored. E5 you've not been to yet.

In the south quarters, (room E4) you find the key to the deactivated clockwork servant in the middle room.

Also, upon inspection of the destroyed soldiers, you find 4 +1 halberds, and you can salvage 4,000gp worth of "scrap" materials.

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E5: A ring of stone pillars supports a white domed ceiling above this circular chamber. Along the perimeter of the rotunda, shelves crammed with crumbling papyrus scrolls and clay tablets stand behind iron mesh doors.

Iseret notices something off about the dome, that the proportions are wrong.

"What is it, Iseret?" Tabat asks, following her gaze to the dome of the chamber.

It's really like the dome is improperly shaped for something that has to hold weight. It shouldn't have lasted any real amount of time.

"I wonder only if our eyes are deceiving us in some way. Perhaps it is a sort of illusion. Let's try the grappling hook. Though we should clear the room as much as possible first, in case we cause something to come down on top of us."

The grappling hook hits the ceiling and a there is a spray of plaster that rains down to the floor. Whatever the dome is made of, it isn't the same as the walls.

The sound it makes is odd as well. Hollow.

"I think something is up there, beyond the dome. It must not be carrying any actual weight from the building - a false ceiling. Could be decorative, but were that the case, I feel we would have seen more such installations within the building. It is odd, regardless. Perhaps if one of us could get up there..." He looks for any sort of handholds that might allow a climb.

Selquet's climb ability isn't great but the penalty for failure is just more time or a short drop. He eventually gets to the edge of the suspect dome, and find that it is definitely an after thought. It's attached to the wall somehow, but isn't actually a dome in the way of a supporting structure. The true wall continues upwards above it.

"A hidden room beyond the dome?" Iseret muses aloud.