No, sorry for my lateness.  I'm going to start off with a post soon.  I'll try to do it tonight!


Teleportation!
Your boss, a female Elf by the name of Devonian, has been studying a network of teleportation chambers.  These are known by governments and academics, but not so much by the general public.  The network of chambers was created by unknown ancients many millenia ago.  There have always been eight known locations, but recently a ninth was discovered from here in Acadamia.  Devonian is investigating the new one.

Each chamber is a small circular room with a "Control Panel" on the wall.  There is a viewing plate, used for viewing a remote chamber before traveling to it.  Below the viewing plate is an oval button about 2 inches wide, with an eye symbol on it.  Below it is circle of nine oval buttons, each about 1 inch wide and with a unique symbol on it.  Nobody knows the meanings of these 9 symbols, but they are the same in each chamber.  They have, by convention, been labeled 1 through 9, starting at the one o'clock position where the first one is (it's 20 degrees off vertical, with another at every further 40 degrees).  For simplicity, let's call the list of symbols, 1 through 9 as follows: !, @, #, $, %, ^, &, *, (.  Below this set of 9 symbols is one more two inch button, this one with an image of a one-sided arrow on it.

You use the chamber by pressing on each of the nine symbol buttons in a particular order.  The order is the key to one of the other locations.  If you then press the Eye button, the viewing plate will gradually change from its normal black to a window on that location's chamber, from the point of view of its viewing plate.  This can be used to check if anyone is there and thereby wait until they are done before going there.  Only vision is provided, no sound or other sensory information.  After viewing the other chamber, you can then press the Arrow button, and you will be instantly transported to that location.

The first eight locations are: 1) Acadamia, a ground floor room in the University, 2) Metral, the capital of this little-known nation, 3) Drazia, near the center of government, 4) Pquaari, somewhere in the capital, 5) The Ruins, underground in the chaotic land of the Wild Peoples, 6) Amar'el Elves on the Isle of Pilg, 7) Goblinhome, a dangerous underground location under the Pilg Mountains, northeast of Cambricon, 8) Iguania, in the capital city of the so-called Dragonslayer Gnomes.

Each of the locations has a unique symbol order, so that order can be used from any location - except that some links do not work, and nobody knows why.  The order for Acadamia is 961374528.

A few months ago a new location, currently called The Chalet, has been discovered.  This is a secret, so you must not reveal it  to anyone other than Scholars.  It is deep in the Titanwall mountains, on a high plain.  There is an ancient, beautiful house there which is abandoned but perfectly preserved.  It has been a boon for researchers, for it contains a small but impressive and unique library.  The library's books are written in an unknown, ancient script, and they are fully functional, illusionary books.  They can be studied but not taken from the library.  An effort has started, both in copying the texts, and in trying to decipher them.  Both are proving difficult, but one Scholar named Boccarino is deeply involved in both tasks.  Boccarino is a middle-aged Halfling Wizard who is an expert in ancient scripts and ciphers - these days he spends most of his time at the Chalet.

You have been going to The Chalet every week with Devonian, looking for clues.  Clues to the script Boccarino is researching, to the teleportation chambers, to the nature and origin of the Chalet's constructor and the creators of the chambers.  So far you have not found much.

Zandor looks about for some clean paper and tries to trace the diagram. He doesn't want to ruin the book.

First going back to the library Zandor grabs up Boccarino's pack. He places anything he may have left laying around there in it, including the potion, and takes these with him. He the goes to patio. He pulls out his hemp rope and sees if he can toss the end of it out of the barrier.