Session 47: Cipher on the Tableau Report

General Summary

After besting the monstrous entity that had harried the party since they first tried to enter Vraska mine, Richard spent some time attempting to decapitate the creature in order to bring back proof of its demise. While the party hold many varied and useful skills, efforts of brute force proved not to be one of them as it took a considerable amount of time for the party to complete this grizzly work. They found the anatomy of the newly decapitated creature to be wholly alien and nonsensical despite the vaguely humanoid body layout.   While collecting their trophy the party heard repeated mournful moans echo up from deeper in the mine; not sounding bestial but neither sounding humanoid. After examining papers on the table in the room where they fought the winged creature they discovered ledgers and shift schedules that led them to believe that there should be nearly 30 people living in Vraska; yet they had not found a single body. Hearing more deep moaning sounds echoing up from further into the mine the party decided they needed to press on to discover what happened to the people of Vraska.   Following the moaning sounds the party traveled deeper into the mine before coming onto a gruesome tableau. A duregar man dangled from the wall, impaled on iron spikes through each shoulder with his belly slashed open and his viscera arranged on the floor in front of him. The smell of rot and blood permeated the sticky, humid air and looking ahead the party saw similar tableaus repeated over and over again. More Duregar and Dunohin, similarly defiled, lined the walls of the tunnel like pieces of art hung by a madman with the tunnel opening up into a larger space at the edges of the party's vision ahead. The sonorous moans had been growing louder and some scouting by Gus revealed the sound of sucking splashing sounds like someone walking through the deep muck of a swamp.   Advancing carefully through the abattoir into the next chamber the party looked around to find a twisted, quadrupedal creature with long limbs and stringy tattered black hair falling over a human shaped head obscuring its face. The creature peered at them through a break in the chamber wall on hunched shoulders while thoughts intruded into the minds of the party entreating them to submit to the creature and bring the Cipher. A short back and forth ensued and the more the party tried to talk themselves out of submitting the more agitated the creature became. Eventually it lost patience and attacked the party, nullifying their magic whenever it turned its baleful gaze in their direction.   A short and desperate fight ensued with Render barely avoiding being stuffed into the writhing maw of this creature. Eventually Willona conjured a burst of galvanic energies that arced from the Duskhand to the creature and proved to be too much for the creature's physicality to handle. With this creature defeated the party decided to form a protective barrier out of crates and barrels that were piled in the corner of the room and to take a quick rest.   Moving the crates around, Willona discovered a cache of treasure including a magical mirror and a magical slingshot. After fortifying their constitutions the party scouted around the area where they fought the strange creature and finally discovered the ancient chamber that Korra told them had been stumbled upon during the mining operation.   The strange room was cubic in shape but the floor tilted significantly making standing on the ground inside the chamber difficult. The floor was covered in strange whirling runes and sigils that upon being translated by Willona and Mizuho made little sense. Each word was knowable but their combinations seemed nonsensical without further context. One area carried some words that were recognized by Willona and read:

"Geodesic bridge alignment established.

Variance less than 0.8 nanoradians.

Autonomous regenerative circuitry: engaged."

Additionally, 4 pillars were arranged in a square around the center of the 'floor' with a shimmering edged portal in the middle of them. Looking into the portal, what looked like a 10 ft wide stone path extended straight downward out of sight on one side of the space visible through the portal with the rest of the space fading in blackness. Examining the room and the portal revealed two important things.

1. The pillars each had a crystal of an unknown type on its apex that appeared to be projecting energy onto the contours of the portal.
2. Throwing an object into the portal saw that object arc towards the strange path and eventually come to rest as it if rested against a floor, yet at and impossible angle from the perspective of the party.

Sending Gus to scout again, after passing through the portal Gus could be seen standing on the path, seemingly held against it by some other gravity. Giving Gus a glowing acorn, the party watched Gus take a single step and zip down the path just barely visible by Richard's enhanced vision is the far distance down the path. Gus turned around and like a bullet covered the distance back to the portal entrance again in a single step.   Presented with this strange warping of space and distance, the party tried to decide what to do next..

Rewards Granted

• 600cp, 5000sp, 2100gp, 150pp
• A sable talisman with an inlaid, steel, spider web
• A copper cloth coat
• A pair of ebony dice with sardonyx pips
• A platinum cloth sash
• A magical mirror (Camilla's Quicksilver Mirror)
• A magical slingshot (Pennypuncher Slingshot)