The Vault of Hourglasses

It was quiet when we arrived in Aurlus Solaris. Disturbingly so. I expected to be greeted with threats. Perhaps to fight Christo right away. But we made it to the Planetarium without incident. Myself, Korrik, Davin, Ignis, Kitarel, and Zephyr headed inside, while the rest of our party remained outside to keep watch and deal with whatever threats would come to them.
 
Having the solutions to all of the various puzzles, we proceeded quickly through the previously explored sections of the vault, obtaining various priceless artifacts along the way. (Arias will recount what they were, but I don’t remember. There was a stone eye from one of the statues, and a fancy dress.) I was a bit distressed to find one of “The Stygian Boys” crumbled to dust upon hitting his weak point, and we decided not to destroy the remaining statues. But we retrieved all the other treasures.
 
At the end of the previously explored section of the vault, we were transported to another room where dozens of narrow tapestries hung from the ceiling. A dreadful fiend of some sort attacked us. It looked like numerous sickly, lanky arms protruding from a flowing robe. It levitated and used the tapestries to move, inflicting us with curses and poison using needles extended from its fingers. We won the fight, but were badly injured.
 
I spoke with the fiend’s corpse, and it gave me the name of the person who built the vault. Or at least that room. (But Krail doesn’t remember the name. Started with an R?). And of course, it confirmed that this was Pykir’s vault.
 
After the fight, we discovered a spot that warped us to another ‘room’. A broad grassy plane, with numerous trees nearby. There were many small, dry trees, and four larger trees with leaves like steel razors. Korrik spoke with the plants, and Ignis (I think?) used Detect Thoughts. We determined that the larger trees could shoot lightning in a manner similar to the breath of a blue dragon, and surmised that the intended way to exit the room was to hit all of the smaller trees with lightning, or defeat all of the larger trees. Luckily, we were able to rest for a bit in this room.
 
While the rest of the group engaged in combat (those razor leaves fucking HURT), I managed to charm one of the larger trees and convince it to wander about the room, lighting up all of the smaller ones.
 
After solving that puzzle, we were teleported to some sort of colosseum suspended amongst the stars. Various chains hung from the sky, and when one was touched, the ground split open. From some unseen location in the sky, a body fell and was was hanged, and its spirit fell to the ground. There would be a total of five of these. When one was defeated, another body was hanged, and we fought another spirit. We have encountered permanently “Blinking” knights in the streets of Aurlus Solaris. These spirits were similar, but stronger. They possessed special abilities that they seemed to use as a reaction to being struck by a weapon. We would later learn their names.
 
The first was Valendrin Yauthlo, the Unblinking Wall. He cast the spell, Shield, upon being struck. Second was Bisfra Yauthlo, the Starry Illusion, who used Mirror Image. Third was Sedara Ichiom, the Quickened Blade, who used Haste. Fourth, Navione Aiat, the Horizon Walker, who I believe used Dimension Door. Finally, there was Leohain Abbesz, the Eldritch Wind, who seemed to use a minor version of Steel Wind Strike. We later learned that Leohain, upon his defeat, appeared outside in Aurlus Solaris, cursing the name of Korrik, who defeated him.
 
Each of these spirits also had the horrifying visage that can instantly age those who gaze upon it, in much the same way Mara was aged. Several us us were aged, but thankfully, Zephyr was able to restore us before too long.
 
After defeating all five, we found an invisible path leading off into the stars. What happens next was…
 
I’m afraid I simply do not have words for it. I can feel the lapse in memory. I do not know how we ended up where we were, but we found ourselves in a room with a massive pit filled to the brink with our own corpses. There was a door across the pit with an inscription above saying “Atone for your sins”. There were instructions on one of the walls, written in chalk, with my own handwriting, telling us to keep throwing ourselves into this pit until we could cross.
 
I can only imagine that this was a powerful illusion. I know of spells that work in similar ways, creating lived experiences and modifying memories. But I don’t wish to dwell on it.
 
The next area appeared to be the core of the vault. There were halls lined with alcoves, and statues would appear as we unlocked sections of the vault. In the center of the room was a large tree with various hooks hanging from its branches. Hallways led off from the central room, and there were a total of 26 side rooms. Each one contained some sort of puzzle or physical challenge. (Arias will absolutely list each of the 26 puzzle rooms, but I will not)
 
Each room granted us one item of power, which we have taken with us, and one item attuned to the energies of one of the various planes. And oh what I would give to be able to take those items. Unfortunately, they were the key required to exit the vault, and planar travel seems to be blocked in there.
 
From the various statues, we now know the names of 27 important Oshrans. I will post the list later. It is worth noting that “Pykir the wise” was among them. The planar item associated with Pykir was attuned to Ril Anon Ost, the Oshran city. Perhaps her lair is there. Kyas Malisius, The umbral Herald, was among the names, as well as two other Malisiuses, listed as the Cleansing Herald and the Ashen Herald.
 
Inside the tree, there was a sword. Upon finding the correct item, the tree opened up, revealing a skeleton, with a plackard reading “Silvaria Brightwood, the Traitor”. We know from the inscription at his grave that Silvaria was Selval Brightwood’s mother. We can only wonder what she did they considered traitorous…
 
With all the plane-attuned items in their place, we were able to leave the vault, and found ourselves back in Aurlus Solaris. It seemed as though the outside party had a very eventful three days.