el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
Session #82 (part ii)
Outside the night air was cold. The sky to the east was clear, but the west was a wall of gray, black and shades of dark blue, where smoke still swirled out of the valley. The taste of ashes in the back of their throats never seemed to go away.
Ratchis led Dorn up the ridge a ways until they were looking down over the great hole in the earth Kazrack had made. It was a black void in the night.
“It’s the ‘rousing success’,” Dorn said.
Ratchis grunted his lack of understanding.
”Roland’s answer from his goddess. It said ‘rousing success’,” Dorn reminded the Friar. “I like the sound of that.” (1)
“I fear that if we use this Key Room we will be opening the way for the other parties interested in the Maze’s power to get in,” Ratchis replied. “Our enemies will be free to go into Hurgun’s Maze without our being there to stop them.”
“I though the door was hidden,” Dorn replied.
“It might be… It should be…,” Ratchis paused. “We don’t know.”
There was a long silence.
“What would it take me to convince you to forget the Key Room and try only for the Maze?” Ratchis asked his friend and cohort.
“If you told me to do so,” Dorn replied without a beat.
Ratchis let out a growling sigh.
“…Or, it we take so long to decide that we have to go to the Maze before we run out of time,” Dorn appended.
“I will decide before that happens,” Ratchis said. “In fact, I have decided right now.” And with that he went back into the temple.
------------------------------------------------
“So, you killed all its babies?” Roland was asking. Kazrack was relaying to him the tale of the strange reptilian priest and his egg-chamber, while Martin did some more studying with Richard the Red.
“Yes,” Kazrack replied.
“You killed an entire generation?” Roland asked, forgetting to close his mouth when he was done speaking.
“The last generation, if what that thing said is to be believed,” Kazrack said, some regret in his voice.
“Well, that seems like a good reason to hate you and want to kill you,” Roland replied.
“I think we should let it have you if it comes,” Logan smirked. He had been standing nearby and overheard the tale. Kazrack looked at the young Herman-lander and furrowed his brow. He opened his mouth to speak, but Logan walked away.
“I am voting for the Key Room,” Ratchis announced. (2) Kazrack’s shoulders sagged.
“That makes four against two, so that means we’re going,” Roland said. “Now?”
“It’s been a long day. Let’s get some rest. We start digging first thing in the morning,” Ratchis replied.
Balem, the 26th of Keent – 565 H.E.
“You are going on a trip on the day named for my goddess based on a divination of her wisdom accompanied by one of her chosen servants,” Roland said, almost singing with joy. He took a long sip of wine. “This is a most auspicious occasion.”
“Just don’t drink too much of that, there’ll probably be fighting,” Logan said, taking his own swig of wine from the bottle he carried.
The Keepers of the Gate had awakened early to carefully discuss what spells were best to prepare, getting the opinion of Richard the Red, who suggested spells that protected from the elements and from negative energy. The party also made Clerebold, and the now awakened Heriot of the Ironstaff, to re-iterate their promises on their own behalf and on that of their soldiers.
Richard the Red bid them farewell at the hatch down to the narrow hall that led to the partially buried portal room.
“One last thing,” he said. “Where do we stand to see the light that will hit and show the way into Hurgun’s Maze?”
“How do you know about that?” Kazrack barked.
Richard shrugged. “Kazrack, does it even matter at this point?”
“We are not telling you,” Ratchis said.
“But what if you don’t return?” Richard asked, a look of concern washing over his face. “Someone needs to go into this Maze before worse things than fire-breathing lizardmen come through the rifts in the valley.”
“Then you had better pray to Isis we’ll be back then,” Logan said, and with that he climbed down the shaft. Roland laughed as he followed, and then went Kazrack.
”If this is some kind of trap or trick you are pulling Richard,” the dwarf said, stopping to look up at the rogue watch-mage as half of his body was down the hatch. “I will kill you.”
Richard winked at him and flashed his bright smile.
In the rectangular black-walled room, the party began to dig out the portal. Kazrack used his miracle of soften earth and stone to make the black earth into running rivers of sand that the others carted and swept away.
It was still nearly three hours of work to make all of the golden runes about the border of the black stone portal visible. The stone within the wall was black and smooth. The Keepers of the Gate could see dim reflections of themselves in the light of Dorn and Martin’s glowing medallions.
Martin the Green took the prayer rug of the wayfarer (3) and wrapped a few unnecessary things in it and hid it beneath a pile of black earth.
Logan looked at him strangely.
”You can’t bring a pocket dimensional space into another pocket dimensional space,” Martin tried to explain.
“What happens?” asked Roland.
“Nothing good,” Martin replied. “I only wish I could leave the Book of Black Circles here.”
“And let Richard get it? No,” Kazrack said.
“Don’t worry, Kazrack, I’m sure if I tried to leave it behind it would try to subsume my will and make me into an evil necromancer cloaked in black and green flame and hurling blobs of enervating flaming death at everyone.”
Kazrack’s eyes opened wide.
“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen,” Ratchis said.
Martin examined the runes. “I can’t tell what they mean, but I think I can pronounce them,” he said, looking at his copy of “Wards, Sigils and Runes” for reference. (4) “I suspect that if I read them aloud the portal will open.”
Everyone stepped away from the portal.
“Utkin Atarev Utaalk Utaalk Atarev Utkin,,” Martin said, and the golden runes flashed from right to left and back again, and the polished black stone suddenly rippled as if liquid.
“It is open?” Logan asked. There was a sudden cacophony of screeches as six shadow forms emerged from the inky void and swooped down on the party.
“Oh no,” said Kazrack.
“Nephthys! If these creatures be the product of undeath send them away from us!” Ratchis cried out, clutching his belt of scored chain links. Three of the shadows swooped away even as they were all coming down to attack Martin, disappearing back into the void of the portal. One of them let out a chilling laugh and brushed a claw-like hand through Kazrack’s body. The dwarf shuddered as he felt some of his body’s strength get sucked away. Another swooped at Dorn, but missed.
The last shadow dove for Martin as if to tackle him, but instead it was sucked right into the watch-mage’s chest and disappeared. Martin felt a tight coldness in his lungs. Negative energy crackled along the outside of his body.
”Oh my!” Martin exclaimed.
“Oh great Queen Bast! Hear me! Grant me the power to smite these creatures of evil and darkness!” Roland chanted, holding up his ornate cat’s eye he wore about his neck as he cast holy smite, slapping the holy symbol against his open palm.
There was flash of golden light and one of the shadows seemed to explode, sending droplets of inky blackness that faded into nothing in all directions. One of them twisted in the air as in agony, even as the one that had disappeared into Martin oozed back out wailing in a disturbing child-like voice. Most noticeably, Logan nearly dropped his sword as he flinched in pain. He moved over to Roland, and slammed his fist into the man’s ribs. Logan was not much taller than Roland, but he had much broader shoulders. In fact, Roland could almost be called dainty with his narrow hips, curly ringlets of hair on his head and babyface cheeks.
“Ow,” Roland complained, turning to look at Logan with shock and annoyance.
Ratchis called to Nephthys again and finally the two remaining shadows fled back into the black portal.
“What was that for?” Roland asked Logan.
“That spell, whatever it was, don’t cast it again,” Logan said. “It hurt.” (5)
“Is it my fault your soul strays from a righteous path?” Roland replied, offended. “And do not strike me again, if you care to keep your hands.”
Logan muttered under his breath.
“Just be careful when casting is all,” Ratchis said, but though his words were meant for Roland, he still looked at Logan. “Logan is our ally and we would not want to jeopardize that.”
“He should apologize,” Roland said, folding his arms across his chest.
Ratchis looked to Logan.
“Very well. I apologize for striking you,” the young man said to the Bastite.
“Apology accepted,” Roland replied rather insincerely.
Meanwhile, Kazrack was approaching the inky void beyond the portal with a shovel in hand.
“Shall we enter?” he asked, looking back at the others.
“I know of no better option,” Martin the Green shrugged his shoulders.
Kazrack began to slide the head of the shovel into the portal when he suddenly felt a great suction threatening to yank the tool from his hands. He pulled it back with all his might, and looked to the others with worried eyes.
“I think we should all enter together, lest we are separated in the space between the worlds,” Martin said, ominously.
The party grasped hands; Kazrack in the center, Logan and Ratchis at either end, and stepped through.
They felt their bodies get jerked forward and they pierced the veil of the portal. For a moment it was like being smothered in a damp sheet left out in winter, but they flowed through it porous weave, and then…
. . .there was nothing. Not light, nor sensation of moving, not even a sense of a body. Just cold eternal in all directions. An eternity passed and there was a square of light and the slightest sense of self in a rigid, frozen body tumbling in an inky void. The square grew bigger until the light was all there was.
Suddenly, the Keepers of the Gate felt themselves crash heavily onto cold stony ground. They gasped in harsh air and tried to disentangle themselves.
”I can’t see!” Roland cried.
“I am blind as well,” Kazrack said calmly.
“I can feel my eyes are in my head, but… I can’t see,” Dorn said.
“Magical darkness?” Logan asked. “I can’t see either.”
“Everyone be careful, we are on some kind of stone plateau,” Ratchis said. “The sound of the wind makes me think there is a drop-off nearby. Martin? Are you there?”
Martin groaned. He felt a wave of cold nausea go through his body as he held his hand to his mouth. The stench of rot floated heavily there for a moment and he gagged. Over a dozen of the teeth on the right side of his mouth had fallen out. Rotted.
“I’m blind, too,” he gasped.
“What if something attacks us?” Roland asked, a bit of panic in his voice. “I know!” He willed himself to change to his velvet black panther form, and though he still could not see, he was certain his advanced olfactory powers would comfort him, but he was wrong.
The smells here were alien. Though he heard the lapping of water against a shore, he could not smell the sea, rather vinegar, and the air had the faintest smell of death wrapped in the taste of clean snow. He shivered.
“Everyone be quiet!” Ratchis said, untangling from the others to stand. “We need to be quiet and listen, in case something does sneak up on us. But we also need to remain still, so none of us accidentally falls off a cliff to their deaths. Just stand where you are…”
“The ledge it over here,” Logan said, from the right. “I crawled over and found it. Don’t come in my direction, and… Ow! There are some sharp rocks, so be careful.”
The rest of the Keepers of the Gate slowly stood.
“Shall I try to dispel the blindness?” Kazrack whispered.
“Let us wait,” Martin finally spoke again. “This may be a side-effect of passing between planes. It may pass. Though we should consider in the meantime what we are going to do if we cannot get our vision to return.”
“Oh no!” Kazrack exclaimed.
“What is it?” Ratchis hissed.
“Something is not right,” Kazrack sounded almost scared. “It is as if my gods were further away from me. None of the most powerful spells I can cast with the aid of my holy progenitors… I mean, they are gone. I cannot access them!”
Ratchis grunted as he realized the same thing about the miracles he had prepared. Roland growled his dismay. (6)
“Martin?” Ratchis asked.
“My prepared spells seem fine,” Martin said. “It must be the nature of this plane and its relative position to the realm of your gods.”
“That makes no sense!” Kazrack said. “The gods of my people are everywhere my people are. They see all we do.”
“That may be the case, Kazrack,” Ratchis said. “But perhaps your gods and ours have never had a reason to exert their power in this place before.”
“I knew this was a bad idea,” Kazrack said. “We are blind and now less prepared. What do you suppose will happen next?”
There was a long silence. There was only the sound of the wind and the distant water.
Slowly, the blackness of their vision began to turn gray and then there were smudges of muted color, and finally their vision returned.
“Thank Natan-ahb,” Kazrack sighed.
The Keepers of the Gate were awed by what they saw. They were upon a round flat plateau shaved near the top of a jagged piece of black rock that rose out of a green and white luminescent sea. The sea stretched out in every direction, and they could see far as the jagged island they stood upon was nearly half a mile from the water’s surface. Above them was a dark purple sky, with two muted moons of green and yellow. There was a path of narrow steps winding down to an ornate stone bridge that led to the gate of the hexagonal city below them. The city was surrounded by thick and tall walls of white stone, checkered with black in places; the point of where the walls were joined each had a tall tower emerging from it. The city itself was dark, but the pale light of the strange moons revealed an immense pyramid in its center; nearly a sixth of the entire city in size. The city itself was probably over a third of a mile wide at its broadest. It rose out of the green and white sea on bedrock of slate gray speckled with a lighter purple.
“There’s something familiar about this place,” Dorn said, noting a squat black four-sided obelisk about four feet high, covered in silver runes similar to the gold ones they had seen back in the portal room.
Martin the Green got out his journal began to draw a quick map of what he saw.
“This doesn’t look like much of a key room. So are we going down there?” Logan asked, pointing to the city.
“We need a better view first,” Martin said, and putting aside his journal he began the long process of casting arcane eye.
The watch-mage first sent the invisible eye up and over the top of the stone they were on, to follow a narrow path of steps that led up and around to the other side. There, he saw a short wharf that stuck out from the island hundreds of feet above the breaking surface of the water below. The wharf itself was made of some strange blue wood, and the pylons were tied with red and gold rope, but everything looked old and shabby.
Martin told the others what he saw, and then he sent the eye down towards the city gates. He could see a two-story gatehouse as the eye got closer. It had double doors of thick metal, each door inscribed with a rune in the same style of the others they had seen. There was also a handwritten sign posted on the left door. It was sloppily written in smeared ink, and the letters were indecipherable. Martin sent the arcane eye over the gatehouse, but the magical projection winked out existence as it cross the perimeter.
Martin told his companions what happened.
With no other options, the Keepers of the Gate made their way down to the gates of the strange city. The stone bridge reminded all, but Logan and Roland, of the bridge where they had met Dorn (7). It was of similar construction, though the stone itself had different qualities, and this bridge was much smaller. It was also in better repair.
Martin the Green cast comprehend languages and read the sign aloud. “Travelers to Topaline, prepare a toll or turn away. If you have no gold, bother me not! Twenty-five pieces each thrown over the left side. That’s my price.” (8)
“Off the side of the bridge?” Kazrack said. He walked over to the door and went to knock on it.
“Wait!” Martin said, holding up his hand. “The runes are the door are an abjuration. Don’t touch them.”
“We don’t have twenty-fives pieces of gold,” Ratchis said. “Not even for one of us. We would be hard-pressed to get twenty-five silver for each of us.”
“We have to try,” Martin said.
“We can just try silver and see what happens,” Logan said. “They could just mean gold in the general sense of ‘something of value’. I mean, everyone knows a ‘piece’ means silver.” (9)
“Yes, I shall pay the toll and go in and reason with whomever is within and negotiate passage for the rest of you,” Kazrack pulled twenty-five silver obleks from a pouch and dropped them over the side of the bridge as close to the gatehouse as possible. Logan leaned over to watch the silver coins twinkle in the luminescence of the strange sea as they tumbled down. Yet, they had not fallen more than twenty feet when they disappeared in flash.
There was click as the doors unlocked and slowly swung open. Beyond was a dark twenty foot wide passage to another set of double doors.
Kazrack stepped in.
End of Session #82
-----------------------------------------
Notes:
(1) Roland cast divination in Session #79.
(2) DM’s Note: Ratchis’ player explained later that he felt split about 50/50 in the decision, and was only going against the Key Room because it seemed like the pragmatic choice based on the limited information. However, once Dorn said to him that he would change his vote if Ratchis told him to do so, the Friar of Nephthys decided, he would rather give up his own divided position on the subject than force someone else to change their choice.
(3) The party found this magical item in the hooked horrors’ nest as they traveled underground to arrive at Nikar. (Session #67)
(4) Martin received this rare and handy tome as an Isis’ Day gift from Richard the Red. (Session #38)
(5) DM’s Note: Since Logan is not of good alignment he suffered half the normal effects of the holy smite.
(6) DM’s Note: All priests lose access to their highest level spells while on this plane. However, when preparing spells while here, they can use their highest level slots to prepare lower level spells. Arcane magic is unaffected, but in general the rules regarding how certain spells work may not apply in a pocket plane.
(7) See session #64
(8) DM’s Note: This marks the beginning of an adaptation of “Beyond the Glittering Veil…” by Steven Kurtz from Dungeon #31.
(9) Remember, most of Aquerra uses a silver standard.
Outside the night air was cold. The sky to the east was clear, but the west was a wall of gray, black and shades of dark blue, where smoke still swirled out of the valley. The taste of ashes in the back of their throats never seemed to go away.
Ratchis led Dorn up the ridge a ways until they were looking down over the great hole in the earth Kazrack had made. It was a black void in the night.
“It’s the ‘rousing success’,” Dorn said.
Ratchis grunted his lack of understanding.
”Roland’s answer from his goddess. It said ‘rousing success’,” Dorn reminded the Friar. “I like the sound of that.” (1)
“I fear that if we use this Key Room we will be opening the way for the other parties interested in the Maze’s power to get in,” Ratchis replied. “Our enemies will be free to go into Hurgun’s Maze without our being there to stop them.”
“I though the door was hidden,” Dorn replied.
“It might be… It should be…,” Ratchis paused. “We don’t know.”
There was a long silence.
“What would it take me to convince you to forget the Key Room and try only for the Maze?” Ratchis asked his friend and cohort.
“If you told me to do so,” Dorn replied without a beat.
Ratchis let out a growling sigh.
“…Or, it we take so long to decide that we have to go to the Maze before we run out of time,” Dorn appended.
“I will decide before that happens,” Ratchis said. “In fact, I have decided right now.” And with that he went back into the temple.
------------------------------------------------
“So, you killed all its babies?” Roland was asking. Kazrack was relaying to him the tale of the strange reptilian priest and his egg-chamber, while Martin did some more studying with Richard the Red.
“Yes,” Kazrack replied.
“You killed an entire generation?” Roland asked, forgetting to close his mouth when he was done speaking.
“The last generation, if what that thing said is to be believed,” Kazrack said, some regret in his voice.
“Well, that seems like a good reason to hate you and want to kill you,” Roland replied.
“I think we should let it have you if it comes,” Logan smirked. He had been standing nearby and overheard the tale. Kazrack looked at the young Herman-lander and furrowed his brow. He opened his mouth to speak, but Logan walked away.
“I am voting for the Key Room,” Ratchis announced. (2) Kazrack’s shoulders sagged.
“That makes four against two, so that means we’re going,” Roland said. “Now?”
“It’s been a long day. Let’s get some rest. We start digging first thing in the morning,” Ratchis replied.
Balem, the 26th of Keent – 565 H.E.
“You are going on a trip on the day named for my goddess based on a divination of her wisdom accompanied by one of her chosen servants,” Roland said, almost singing with joy. He took a long sip of wine. “This is a most auspicious occasion.”
“Just don’t drink too much of that, there’ll probably be fighting,” Logan said, taking his own swig of wine from the bottle he carried.
The Keepers of the Gate had awakened early to carefully discuss what spells were best to prepare, getting the opinion of Richard the Red, who suggested spells that protected from the elements and from negative energy. The party also made Clerebold, and the now awakened Heriot of the Ironstaff, to re-iterate their promises on their own behalf and on that of their soldiers.
Richard the Red bid them farewell at the hatch down to the narrow hall that led to the partially buried portal room.
“One last thing,” he said. “Where do we stand to see the light that will hit and show the way into Hurgun’s Maze?”
“How do you know about that?” Kazrack barked.
Richard shrugged. “Kazrack, does it even matter at this point?”
“We are not telling you,” Ratchis said.
“But what if you don’t return?” Richard asked, a look of concern washing over his face. “Someone needs to go into this Maze before worse things than fire-breathing lizardmen come through the rifts in the valley.”
“Then you had better pray to Isis we’ll be back then,” Logan said, and with that he climbed down the shaft. Roland laughed as he followed, and then went Kazrack.
”If this is some kind of trap or trick you are pulling Richard,” the dwarf said, stopping to look up at the rogue watch-mage as half of his body was down the hatch. “I will kill you.”
Richard winked at him and flashed his bright smile.
In the rectangular black-walled room, the party began to dig out the portal. Kazrack used his miracle of soften earth and stone to make the black earth into running rivers of sand that the others carted and swept away.
It was still nearly three hours of work to make all of the golden runes about the border of the black stone portal visible. The stone within the wall was black and smooth. The Keepers of the Gate could see dim reflections of themselves in the light of Dorn and Martin’s glowing medallions.
Martin the Green took the prayer rug of the wayfarer (3) and wrapped a few unnecessary things in it and hid it beneath a pile of black earth.
Logan looked at him strangely.
”You can’t bring a pocket dimensional space into another pocket dimensional space,” Martin tried to explain.
“What happens?” asked Roland.
“Nothing good,” Martin replied. “I only wish I could leave the Book of Black Circles here.”
“And let Richard get it? No,” Kazrack said.
“Don’t worry, Kazrack, I’m sure if I tried to leave it behind it would try to subsume my will and make me into an evil necromancer cloaked in black and green flame and hurling blobs of enervating flaming death at everyone.”
Kazrack’s eyes opened wide.
“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen,” Ratchis said.
Martin examined the runes. “I can’t tell what they mean, but I think I can pronounce them,” he said, looking at his copy of “Wards, Sigils and Runes” for reference. (4) “I suspect that if I read them aloud the portal will open.”
Everyone stepped away from the portal.
“Utkin Atarev Utaalk Utaalk Atarev Utkin,,” Martin said, and the golden runes flashed from right to left and back again, and the polished black stone suddenly rippled as if liquid.
“It is open?” Logan asked. There was a sudden cacophony of screeches as six shadow forms emerged from the inky void and swooped down on the party.
“Oh no,” said Kazrack.
“Nephthys! If these creatures be the product of undeath send them away from us!” Ratchis cried out, clutching his belt of scored chain links. Three of the shadows swooped away even as they were all coming down to attack Martin, disappearing back into the void of the portal. One of them let out a chilling laugh and brushed a claw-like hand through Kazrack’s body. The dwarf shuddered as he felt some of his body’s strength get sucked away. Another swooped at Dorn, but missed.
The last shadow dove for Martin as if to tackle him, but instead it was sucked right into the watch-mage’s chest and disappeared. Martin felt a tight coldness in his lungs. Negative energy crackled along the outside of his body.
”Oh my!” Martin exclaimed.
“Oh great Queen Bast! Hear me! Grant me the power to smite these creatures of evil and darkness!” Roland chanted, holding up his ornate cat’s eye he wore about his neck as he cast holy smite, slapping the holy symbol against his open palm.
There was flash of golden light and one of the shadows seemed to explode, sending droplets of inky blackness that faded into nothing in all directions. One of them twisted in the air as in agony, even as the one that had disappeared into Martin oozed back out wailing in a disturbing child-like voice. Most noticeably, Logan nearly dropped his sword as he flinched in pain. He moved over to Roland, and slammed his fist into the man’s ribs. Logan was not much taller than Roland, but he had much broader shoulders. In fact, Roland could almost be called dainty with his narrow hips, curly ringlets of hair on his head and babyface cheeks.
“Ow,” Roland complained, turning to look at Logan with shock and annoyance.
Ratchis called to Nephthys again and finally the two remaining shadows fled back into the black portal.
“What was that for?” Roland asked Logan.
“That spell, whatever it was, don’t cast it again,” Logan said. “It hurt.” (5)
“Is it my fault your soul strays from a righteous path?” Roland replied, offended. “And do not strike me again, if you care to keep your hands.”
Logan muttered under his breath.
“Just be careful when casting is all,” Ratchis said, but though his words were meant for Roland, he still looked at Logan. “Logan is our ally and we would not want to jeopardize that.”
“He should apologize,” Roland said, folding his arms across his chest.
Ratchis looked to Logan.
“Very well. I apologize for striking you,” the young man said to the Bastite.
“Apology accepted,” Roland replied rather insincerely.
Meanwhile, Kazrack was approaching the inky void beyond the portal with a shovel in hand.
“Shall we enter?” he asked, looking back at the others.
“I know of no better option,” Martin the Green shrugged his shoulders.
Kazrack began to slide the head of the shovel into the portal when he suddenly felt a great suction threatening to yank the tool from his hands. He pulled it back with all his might, and looked to the others with worried eyes.
“I think we should all enter together, lest we are separated in the space between the worlds,” Martin said, ominously.
The party grasped hands; Kazrack in the center, Logan and Ratchis at either end, and stepped through.
They felt their bodies get jerked forward and they pierced the veil of the portal. For a moment it was like being smothered in a damp sheet left out in winter, but they flowed through it porous weave, and then…
. . .there was nothing. Not light, nor sensation of moving, not even a sense of a body. Just cold eternal in all directions. An eternity passed and there was a square of light and the slightest sense of self in a rigid, frozen body tumbling in an inky void. The square grew bigger until the light was all there was.
Suddenly, the Keepers of the Gate felt themselves crash heavily onto cold stony ground. They gasped in harsh air and tried to disentangle themselves.
”I can’t see!” Roland cried.
“I am blind as well,” Kazrack said calmly.
“I can feel my eyes are in my head, but… I can’t see,” Dorn said.
“Magical darkness?” Logan asked. “I can’t see either.”
“Everyone be careful, we are on some kind of stone plateau,” Ratchis said. “The sound of the wind makes me think there is a drop-off nearby. Martin? Are you there?”
Martin groaned. He felt a wave of cold nausea go through his body as he held his hand to his mouth. The stench of rot floated heavily there for a moment and he gagged. Over a dozen of the teeth on the right side of his mouth had fallen out. Rotted.
“I’m blind, too,” he gasped.
“What if something attacks us?” Roland asked, a bit of panic in his voice. “I know!” He willed himself to change to his velvet black panther form, and though he still could not see, he was certain his advanced olfactory powers would comfort him, but he was wrong.
The smells here were alien. Though he heard the lapping of water against a shore, he could not smell the sea, rather vinegar, and the air had the faintest smell of death wrapped in the taste of clean snow. He shivered.
“Everyone be quiet!” Ratchis said, untangling from the others to stand. “We need to be quiet and listen, in case something does sneak up on us. But we also need to remain still, so none of us accidentally falls off a cliff to their deaths. Just stand where you are…”
“The ledge it over here,” Logan said, from the right. “I crawled over and found it. Don’t come in my direction, and… Ow! There are some sharp rocks, so be careful.”
The rest of the Keepers of the Gate slowly stood.
“Shall I try to dispel the blindness?” Kazrack whispered.
“Let us wait,” Martin finally spoke again. “This may be a side-effect of passing between planes. It may pass. Though we should consider in the meantime what we are going to do if we cannot get our vision to return.”
“Oh no!” Kazrack exclaimed.
“What is it?” Ratchis hissed.
“Something is not right,” Kazrack sounded almost scared. “It is as if my gods were further away from me. None of the most powerful spells I can cast with the aid of my holy progenitors… I mean, they are gone. I cannot access them!”
Ratchis grunted as he realized the same thing about the miracles he had prepared. Roland growled his dismay. (6)
“Martin?” Ratchis asked.
“My prepared spells seem fine,” Martin said. “It must be the nature of this plane and its relative position to the realm of your gods.”
“That makes no sense!” Kazrack said. “The gods of my people are everywhere my people are. They see all we do.”
“That may be the case, Kazrack,” Ratchis said. “But perhaps your gods and ours have never had a reason to exert their power in this place before.”
“I knew this was a bad idea,” Kazrack said. “We are blind and now less prepared. What do you suppose will happen next?”
There was a long silence. There was only the sound of the wind and the distant water.
Slowly, the blackness of their vision began to turn gray and then there were smudges of muted color, and finally their vision returned.
“Thank Natan-ahb,” Kazrack sighed.
The Keepers of the Gate were awed by what they saw. They were upon a round flat plateau shaved near the top of a jagged piece of black rock that rose out of a green and white luminescent sea. The sea stretched out in every direction, and they could see far as the jagged island they stood upon was nearly half a mile from the water’s surface. Above them was a dark purple sky, with two muted moons of green and yellow. There was a path of narrow steps winding down to an ornate stone bridge that led to the gate of the hexagonal city below them. The city was surrounded by thick and tall walls of white stone, checkered with black in places; the point of where the walls were joined each had a tall tower emerging from it. The city itself was dark, but the pale light of the strange moons revealed an immense pyramid in its center; nearly a sixth of the entire city in size. The city itself was probably over a third of a mile wide at its broadest. It rose out of the green and white sea on bedrock of slate gray speckled with a lighter purple.
“There’s something familiar about this place,” Dorn said, noting a squat black four-sided obelisk about four feet high, covered in silver runes similar to the gold ones they had seen back in the portal room.
Martin the Green got out his journal began to draw a quick map of what he saw.
“This doesn’t look like much of a key room. So are we going down there?” Logan asked, pointing to the city.
“We need a better view first,” Martin said, and putting aside his journal he began the long process of casting arcane eye.
The watch-mage first sent the invisible eye up and over the top of the stone they were on, to follow a narrow path of steps that led up and around to the other side. There, he saw a short wharf that stuck out from the island hundreds of feet above the breaking surface of the water below. The wharf itself was made of some strange blue wood, and the pylons were tied with red and gold rope, but everything looked old and shabby.
Martin told the others what he saw, and then he sent the eye down towards the city gates. He could see a two-story gatehouse as the eye got closer. It had double doors of thick metal, each door inscribed with a rune in the same style of the others they had seen. There was also a handwritten sign posted on the left door. It was sloppily written in smeared ink, and the letters were indecipherable. Martin sent the arcane eye over the gatehouse, but the magical projection winked out existence as it cross the perimeter.
Martin told his companions what happened.
With no other options, the Keepers of the Gate made their way down to the gates of the strange city. The stone bridge reminded all, but Logan and Roland, of the bridge where they had met Dorn (7). It was of similar construction, though the stone itself had different qualities, and this bridge was much smaller. It was also in better repair.
Martin the Green cast comprehend languages and read the sign aloud. “Travelers to Topaline, prepare a toll or turn away. If you have no gold, bother me not! Twenty-five pieces each thrown over the left side. That’s my price.” (8)
“Off the side of the bridge?” Kazrack said. He walked over to the door and went to knock on it.
“Wait!” Martin said, holding up his hand. “The runes are the door are an abjuration. Don’t touch them.”
“We don’t have twenty-fives pieces of gold,” Ratchis said. “Not even for one of us. We would be hard-pressed to get twenty-five silver for each of us.”
“We have to try,” Martin said.
“We can just try silver and see what happens,” Logan said. “They could just mean gold in the general sense of ‘something of value’. I mean, everyone knows a ‘piece’ means silver.” (9)
“Yes, I shall pay the toll and go in and reason with whomever is within and negotiate passage for the rest of you,” Kazrack pulled twenty-five silver obleks from a pouch and dropped them over the side of the bridge as close to the gatehouse as possible. Logan leaned over to watch the silver coins twinkle in the luminescence of the strange sea as they tumbled down. Yet, they had not fallen more than twenty feet when they disappeared in flash.
There was click as the doors unlocked and slowly swung open. Beyond was a dark twenty foot wide passage to another set of double doors.
Kazrack stepped in.
End of Session #82
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Notes:
(1) Roland cast divination in Session #79.
(2) DM’s Note: Ratchis’ player explained later that he felt split about 50/50 in the decision, and was only going against the Key Room because it seemed like the pragmatic choice based on the limited information. However, once Dorn said to him that he would change his vote if Ratchis told him to do so, the Friar of Nephthys decided, he would rather give up his own divided position on the subject than force someone else to change their choice.
(3) The party found this magical item in the hooked horrors’ nest as they traveled underground to arrive at Nikar. (Session #67)
(4) Martin received this rare and handy tome as an Isis’ Day gift from Richard the Red. (Session #38)
(5) DM’s Note: Since Logan is not of good alignment he suffered half the normal effects of the holy smite.
(6) DM’s Note: All priests lose access to their highest level spells while on this plane. However, when preparing spells while here, they can use their highest level slots to prepare lower level spells. Arcane magic is unaffected, but in general the rules regarding how certain spells work may not apply in a pocket plane.
(7) See session #64
(8) DM’s Note: This marks the beginning of an adaptation of “Beyond the Glittering Veil…” by Steven Kurtz from Dungeon #31.
(9) Remember, most of Aquerra uses a silver standard.
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