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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LordVyreth" data-source="post: 1698068" data-attributes="member: 9626">The Nightmare Prince: The Party Is SplitBeyond the statue tests, the party finally reached the central hub that their mostly involuntary guide told them about.  They were leaving from a tunnel that was labeled the Servants’ Tunnel, and two other tunnels labeled the Slaves’ Tunnel and the Warriors’ Tunnel also branched off here.  There was also an opening in the ceiling here, but it was totally obscured by a strange metal machine.  Tal nodded.  “This must be the ‘elevator’ that we were told about.”    The strange machine was too small for more than one person to fit through at a time, and they had no idea how long it would take for one person to reach the top.  Whoever went in first would be taking a huge risk, and with a group that largely didn’t trust each other any more (especially with the two additional near-strangers,) few were willing to take that risk.  However, after only a moment’s hesitation, Galeron stepped forward, and boldly said, “I’ll do it!”    Tal looked worried, and responded, “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.  We need someone who would make a better scout, and is capable both of determining what danger might be up there quickly, and keep hidden until then.”    But Galeron shook his head.  “With Fnipper and Tebryn…gone, we don’t really have anyone capable of that anyway.  Well, Robin maybe, but at least if things get ugly, I can keep myself alive until help arrives.”    Upon hearing this, Tal let him go first if he still wanted to, with reluctance, and except for the worried Thorrun, and an eager-to-please Robin, everyone was happy to let him go.    However, that proved to be a mistake, for Khaspar, the Nightmare Prince, was better prepared for the party’s arrival than they thought.  The elevator slowly rose for a few minutes, before its door opened to a very dark room.  Galeron cautiously stepped into the room, only to for the room to be enveloped in even greater darkness, suggesting an obviously magical source.  Suddenly, a strange, unfamiliar voice echoed across the room.  “Welcome, ‘heroes’ of Methosilang.  Or, more likely, hero, since your friends are likely waiting below, ignorant of the horrible death you will soon experience.  But at least you’ll have the enjoyment of being defeated by the best.”  The voice began to laugh, but it echoed away.  Meanwhile, a terrified Galeron heard the elevator door slam shut, and felt water rush into the room at high speed!    Galeron tried a spell, but his voice didn’t seem to work.  He also realized he no longer heard the sound of water rushing into the room, and realized he was trapped in a zone of silence!  It soon ceased to be an issue, however, for the water filled the room with almost supernatural speed, preventing him from casting most spells anyway.  He did have one spell that let him enhance his muscles, however, and it didn’t require a saying anything.  He found the elevator door, cast the spell, and began to attack it with all of his might.  However, being underwater slowed his movements and limited the impact on the door.  He was able to put some good dents in the door, but he nonetheless lost consciousness, and he cursed the name of Khaspar as he prepared to embrace his goddess…    Meanwhile, the rest of the party was still waiting at the bottom of the elevator.  A few minutes passed, and still the elevator didn’t come down, nor did they hear anything from Galeron.  Finally, the gears of the elevator began to move, and they moved into position around, hoping to send Tal up if it was empty, but prepared to fight if there was something hostile in the elevator.  Just then, they noticed that a pair of figures was coming from the Warrior and Slaves’ Tunnels.  The one from the warrior’s tunnel was a drow man wearing light armor and carrying a lute or similar instrument.  Tal, Robin and Danae actually recognized him as Alkurvas, a bard that lived in Methosilang, and Tal even remembered that Alkurvas once sung a strange song to the party, though he couldn’t remember the exact words at the moment.  The other figure was much smaller, similar in size to a gnome or halfling, but it was wearing a black robe like the other cultists wear.    The party prepared to fight them, but Alkurvas held up a hand in friendship.  “Be at peace, my friends.  I can’t speak for this other figure, but I’m here to help you, not fight you.”    Upon hearing this, the other figure spoke.  “Nor am I your enemy.  In fact, I was a slave here, but I managed find a way to escape.  Even so, I didn’t dare to take it until I heard the rumors that you would come, and I heard that my son was among you.”  The figure removed her hood, to reveal the face of an aged deep gnome.  “Now, where is Fnipper?”    Tal tried to respond to this woman to this, but his mouth was numbed from the shock of meeting Fnipper’s mother and the horror of what he had to tell her.  Grockith looked even paler, and from here on, he was unable to express any emotion at all.  It was as if he was a construct, going through the motions of life while his mind was locked in a battle for his very sanity.    Tal tried to respond as best he could.  “Um, I’m afraid I have bad news for you.  Fnipper was killed in…an earlier battle while we were searching for The Nightmare Prince’s home.  He was hoping he could find and free you and the rest of his family.”    Fortunately for Tal, she didn’t have time to respond nor could he elaborate, for Alkurvas spoke up, “I’m afraid we don’t have time for conversation.  Khaspar knows you are here.”  He waited for the initial shock and fear to die down, and then continued, “As we speak, he is gathering the most powerful forces he has, and they will come down the Warriors’ Tunnel in a matter of minutes to finish you.”    “How long did he know,” a worried Robin asked.    “Since you arrived, though he expected you would attack from before that.  He wanted you to come so he could capture at least one of you alive for information, but now that he has what you want, the rest of you are expendable.”    Viett and Roryn, however, were getting suspicious.  “How do we know you’re not working with him to trick us?  How do you even know all of this?”    Alkurvas shrugged and replied, “I’m a wanderer and spy of sorts.  I go almost everywhere to seek a new audience.  If I can help spy on Methosilang’s enemies as I go, I have no problem with that.  And if I really am a spy for Khaspar, what would be the point?  He clearly knows you’re here if that was true as well, he still has an army that can kill you far more easily than I could, and he could just let you go up the elevator one at a time until he has you all captured or killed.”    The party thought this out for a while, and Danae asked, “So what do you propose we do about it?”    “I know another way in, and it’s actually very close.  Not even Khaspar would suspect you’ll use it, since he personally made it and told no one else of its existence.  I can take you there if you like.  However,” and he looked to Robin and Grockith for this part, “the path is too narrow for your animals.  I can take care of them for you, though, and make sure they are safe.”    It took some discussion, but Robin reluctantly parted with his current animal companions.  Grockith, surprisingly, let him take his unusual rhino without any protesting or emotion at all.  Alkurvas then prepared to lead them to the portal, when Fnipper’s mom spoke up.    “Just a minute.  If my son is truly dead, I would like to go with you.  He died trying to fight Khaspar, after all, so I blame him for Fnipper’s death.  And if killing him will save more of my family, I would be happy to help you save them as well.  Oh, and we haven’t been formally introduced, I believe.  My name is Nathee.”    The party members introduced themselves, and they were on their way.  Alkurvas led them partially down the Warriors’ Tunnel, and then to a tiny secret door in the wall.  Behind the door, there was nothing but a ladder and a shaft leading upwards.  Each of the heroes climbed the ladder, and found a second secret door at the top.  They found themselves exiting a painting (appropriately titled “The Void,” which is apparently just a black canvas that easily hides the secret door when opened,) and entering the most twisted art gallery they had ever seen.  The entire floor is an elaborate fresco depicting a pit to the Abyss or a similar hellish land, creating an unnerving illusion of walking on nothing.  The room was filled with various other odd and macabre artworks, from twisted machines of war to elaborate sculptures and paintings of tortured creatures.  The room’s most notable sculpture was a giant statue made of what looked like the corpses of dozens of women stitched together into one massive human form, with arms raised in sorrow.  Above the room, there were dozens of hanging sculptures, along with a small maze of catwalks.  The room also had a pair of doors, on the east and west walls.  Roryn and Viett, using their dwarfish direct senses, determined that the Mundane Sector they were told about by the party (who had of course learned it from their cultist prisoner,) was to the east, but since Khaspar already expected them, Viett suggested that they go west instead, in an attempt to trick him.  However, they couldn’t even go near the door before they were attacked.    Arrows and magic rained down on the party from the catwalks, as a number of figures emerged from hiding to attack.  Even worse, Lamentation itself suddenly began to move, and charged Tal!  Grockith, with some encouragement, moved up to the hideous monster and begin to attack it, while being the only one in the party to show no signs of repulsion at the hideous creature.  Roryn roared his enraged battle cry, and moved up to help Grockith, while Viett stood behind them and started to psionically disintegrate parts of the monster, which was extremely confusing to Tal and Danae, who had learned that this was just a massive flesh golem, and should be immune to magic.  However, the two of them were far more concerned with the cultists firing at them from above, and they teamed up with Robin to fire up at them.  Meanwhile, Nathee moved behind the golem to attack it, only to learn that her sneak attacks were useless on the creature, and Thorrun worked to heal everyone as best as he could.  It was a difficult fight, especially since all of their attackers were using the catwalks as cover and were so nimble that they could avoid all of Danae and Tal’s fireballs and other area magic without even being harmed by them.  However, when the party was able to actually hit, each hit connected easily enough, and the villains all died with only a few strikes.  Meanwhile, Lamentation was mercifully brought to rest by Grockith’s blade.  However, the room still had one surprise left for the unfortunate heroes, when one last black-robed figure suddenly dropped to the floor using some sort of machine similar to the elevator they saw earlier, and stabbed straight at Roryn’s heart with the speed of a trained assassin.  Roryn was able to keep his heart away from the assassin’s blade, but the attack was still a deep and painful one.  Viett, seeing his brother’s near-death, angrily fired one last ray at the assassin, and in one moment, he was turned into nothing but dust.  The party quickly gathered the equipmentof the enemy while Roryn destroyed the west wall, and continued onward.    “Wakey Wakey!”    Galeron groaned as he regained consciousness.  He was stripped of all of his equipment and clothing, save for a simple prisoner rags, and some strange metal bracelets around each of his arms and legs.  He was attached, apparently by magnetic force from the bracelets, to a metal rack of some sort.  Three creatures were looking at him. One was an elf, who was playing some sort of instrument.  The other was a hideous demonic creature, which was covered with spikes and strange scars.  As it realized it was noticed, it opened its mouth in an unnaturally large and toothy grin, and a massive bladed tongue that was almost as long as the creature’s body rolled out.  Finally, there was a half-mechanical man.  He seemed to be far more elaborate than other half-machines that Galeron had seen so far, however.  He had wings, a tail, and even horns, to give the impression of a strange mechanical half-demon, rather than the mechanical mess most half-machines were.     “The Nightmare Prince, I’m guessing?”    The half-machine man smiled.  “Correct!  Now, I’m willing to start this process easily enough.  As you already guessed, you still exist for a reason.  You still have information that will make me very popular with Bas, and I intend to get it, one way or the other.  But we have plenty of time, especially since your friends will be killed soon enough, and no one else will come to save you.  Let’s start with the basics.  You know, name, brief family history, and so on, and we’ll see where we go from there.    Galeron, however, was defiant.  “You won’t get anything out of me.”    The Nightmare Prince sighed, but suddenly smiled.  “It’s just as well.  This is a far more entertaining way to do it, anyway.”    Suddenly, Galeron’s rack lifted off the ground, and was taken over the room’s far wall through a window-like opening.  On the other side was a pool of a bubbling green fluid, which Galeron guessed was acid.    “Now then, would you like to try it again?  Let’s try your name at least.”    Galeron looked down, and knew that if he was dropped in the acid, his death would be certain.  Still, he persevered.  “Taunt me all you want, Khaspar.  I know that my friends still live.  And whatever happens to me, they will kill you.”    Khaspar shrugged.  “So you say.  But that’s enough for now.  I need you rested for the fun we’re going to have over the next few days.  But here’s a little something for you to remember me by.”  He then instructed the demon to lower Galeron into the acid briefly, and then pull him out again.  He then left to rest for the night, seeming oblivious to Galeron’s screams.</blockquote>

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