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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 885885" data-attributes="member: 143">It's Friday!* * * * * Book VIII, Part 30The walls pressed close in around them as the companions traversed the long, narrow, stair that spiraled down deep into the stone foundations of the city.  The torch in Dana’s hand flickered and wavered and cast dancing shadows that made the descent a treacherous thing.  The brand was mundane; Dana’s magical one had gone out as soon as they’d entered the building above, just as Kargan had said.  The magical enhancements that they cast daily now had faded, as well, which was more than a little disconcerting to the companions.  But having come this far, they could not back down now.  “It’s cold here,” Benzan said, from the lead. “It will get colder, but not enough to harm you, if you do not dally,” Kargan said from behind, just ahead of Lok who brought up the rear of their small column.  The demon’s tone was tinged with a hint of pique; he’d not wanted to come down with them, had intended to bring them to the site of their meeting and depart.  Cal, however, had suggested that the agent accompany them at least until they met with his contact.  Kargan had demurred, insisting that the contact—a creature he only named “The Silent,” did not enjoy his personal company. Benzan had quashed that with a deliberate grip upon the hilt of his sword of the planes, and a curt, “We insist.”  After that, Kargan had come along, if not without complaint.  The structure above was little more than a one-story blockhouse, most of which was comprised of a single large, windowless room.  The servants that greeted them were minor demons—quasits, Kargan called them—who ushered them through the chamber and into a cellar that in turn gave access to this staircase that they now traversed.“This ‘Silent’ clearly doesn’t like to be bothered,” Benzan said.  “How far down are we, anyway?”“Approximately two hundred feet,” Lok replied from the rear.  Benzan opened his mouth to say something else, but at that point they could see that the stairs finally came to an end just ahead, at a landing little larger than the confined space of the stairs.  A heavy stone door was set into one wall, the only apparent route to continue.  Benzan hesitated, and glanced back at the others.  “Go ahead,” Kargan exclaimed impatiently.  “He’s expecting you, as I said.”Benzan turned and opened the door.  Despite its apparent size and thickness it opened easily at his tug.  As he did a deep, violet light poured out from the chamber beyond, enough to see clearly, once they had adjusted to the strangeness of the radiance.  The room was clearly some sort of laboratory, looking smaller than its actual size due to the crowded collection of stone tables, shelves, racks, and other furnishings that filled much of its space.  The skins—or in a few cases, the entire carcass—of at least two dozen creatures dangled from racks of hooks attached to the low ceiling, alongside various oddly-shaped tools with unclear function.  The tables were jumbled with vials, beakers, flasks, bowls, and other containers filled with a hundred different substances, along with the occasional open tome or bleached skull.  A few mixtures were boiling over low flames from portable stoves, their vapors filling the room with a thick, cloying scent, and a quartet of fat, bulbous lamps emitted the bright purple flames that cast the light they had seen earlier.  For a long moment, they just stood there, taking it all in.  Then Kargan prodded them forward.  “There, go,” he said, gesturing toward a portal they had missed in their initial perception, a narrow threshold half-sheltered behind a heavy bookcase that led into another chamber beyond.  Warily, his eyes darting into every crevice and shadow, Benzan led them through the room and through the doorway into the next room.  This room was smaller, but seemed more spacious due to the lack of clutter.  There was only a pair of tables, one with several drawers underneath, and large diagram patterned on the floor that took up three-quarters of the floor space.  The design was etched in a silvery substance that glistened in the light of Dana’s torch, like a snail’s tracings, and it was all spirals and loops and circles that seemed to flow in and around each other until it started a headache if you looked at it for too long.  There were two other exits, narrow open doorways like the one they had just traversed.   A shadow appeared in one of the doorways, materializing into a tall, white form that entered the room and regarded them coldly. It was nude, the size of a tall man and roughly the same shape, but lacking the gendered organs that set most humanoids apart.  Its skin was a pasty white, stretched tightly over its frame, and it was so thin that it looked as though a slight stumble might break it in two.  Its face was a grim mask, its mouth a tight slit that formed an inverted “V”, its nose just two smaller slits above that, and its eyes a pair of dark orbs recessed deep within its skull.  It had no other features, no ears that they could see, no hair, nothing that might give it even the slightest air of normalcy.  It fixed them with a hard look, then made a gesture with one hand, its fingers easily half-again as long as theirs, with an extra joint to each.  Although it made no sound, and they heard nothing, somehow they understood the meaning behind that gesture as though it had spoken clearly to them. I did not invite you here, Tsorok“Indeed ser, and I apologize for the trespass,” he said, with a curt bow.  “But these who sought your wisdom insisted that I guide them, at least to the meeting with you.”They have met me.  You may go.Kargan bowed again, and quickly—with a last look at the companions that might have meant anything—turned and departed.  As he left they could hear the outer door sliding shut, a very grim sound indeed given their current surroundings.  Cal stepped forward.  “Silent One, we have come...”The creature cut him off with another gesture.  I know of your need.  Let us begin.Cal was surprised, expecting from their earlier interactions with demons some preliminaries, at the very least a negotiation over the price that would be required for the creature’s assistance.  He was under no illusion that the few scrolls he’d given to Kargan would be sufficient, but the Silent was apparently not waiting, gesturing them toward the intricate pattern etched out on the surface of the floor.  Do not touch the scrathings.  Step over, into the silver circles.The companions watched dubiously as the creature itself moved around the border of the diagram and stepped into place at its far side.  They could see that there were five large empty circles within the pattern near its edge, connected to the others by intricate weaves and spirals.  Each was perhaps two feet across, sufficient space for someone to stand if they were still.  The demon—if, in fact, that was what the Silent was—now occupied one of the circles, and it regarded them with an intent stare.  If you do not wish to do this, you may depart now.  The gesture was a simple, curt slash of its hand, yet someone the full meaning of the statement was imparted to them.  “We do not wish to appear untrusting,” Cal began, “but only fools leap into a strange situation without knowledge...”The creature imparted another series of gestures, moving its head, hands, and body in a sinuous rhythm.  You will not be harmed.  The Weave is only a focus, that will allow you to cast out your mind without drawing the attention of those who See.  I myself will energize the matrix, and will shield you from sight.  It is not unlike your illusions, Balander Calloran.The companions exchanged a look.  “We need answers, Cal,” Dana finally said, the pleading clear in her voice.  You possess the connection to that which you seek.  Enter the Weave, and do what you came here to do.Dana was the first, stepping boldly into place, but Cal could see the way she trembled.  Cal, Benzan, and Lok followed, taking their positions within the open bubbles of space within the Weave.  Benzan fixed the Silent with a hard look.  “You’d better not play us false, demon.”The demon’s gesture was barely a flicker of its head.  Hope instead that you are not false to yourselves.Dana reached into her pouch, and drew out a scroll.  Inscribed therein was a potent weaving, a gift from her friend, the elvish high priest of Selûne, Seral.  She had tried the spell back home in Faerûn; it was among the first things she had thought to try.  But even the incredible power of the discern location enchantment had proven of little use.  Here, without protection, its casting would instantly alert the one whose notice they were trying above all to avoid.  So now they had to trust that the strange power of the Silent would be enough to cloak them...Dana unrolled the scroll.  She had gained in power since the last time that Seral had guided her through the enchantment, but there was still a chance that she would not be able to work the difficult and potent dweomer.  It was not their only option; she and Cal had prepared other spells, divinations and scryings and even the powerful ability granted to Dana from her goddess to find the path to a desired destination.  But even that would be of little use, if they could not find where Delem was.  The mystic wanderer looked across the Weave at the Silent.  The creature nodded, and lowered itself into what looked like an awkward and uncomfortable crouch, its knees protruding out over the borders of its circle just above the spirals of the Weave.  Its penetrating eyes grew distant, and it began to emit a faint sound, a buzzing that grew slowly and steadily louder until it seemed to fill them with its cadence.  The silvery trails that made up the pattern began to glow, until they were all that was, an endless spiral that folded in upon itself in ever-deeper swirls.  Within that matrix the four companions stood, the three men watching their comrade as she drew upon the fullness of a power that was alien to this dark place.  The words poured out of her; there was no doubt, no hesitation.  The others could feel the power building, could feel the very fastness of reality shifting around them as Dana cast out her mind, a mouse creeping through the vastness of a house built of shadows.  They could not see what she was seeking, but each of them was drawn into the casting nonetheless, a part of what she was doing...A presence suddenly appeared.  It was cold, black, powerful, eternal.  A face appeared out of the shadows.  Laughter.And then they were falling, all of them, still together, plummeting, as everything fragmented into a thousand shards...Pain...Then Nothing.</blockquote>

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