Session 75

Tunneling from Door to Door

General Summary

• The party took the staircase down into the first chamber of the next major area of the dungeon (the "Art Gallery").
• In general, the Art Gallery is made up of various different rooms connected by hallways, each with its own high-security door with a unique mechanism to open it.
• This room initially had a cultist named "Stool Pigeon" in it. The party assaulted him, knocked him out, and then took his journal, his mask, and his uniform.
• Kesmet is now the third party member disguised as a cultist.
• Apparently, the journal can somehow be used to get some information about the different rooms in this zone, but it has been cursed in some way.
• The party kept the cultist alive, eventually dropping him off in the pantry and pouring some alcohol on him to make it look like he passed out drunk.
• The rest of the room has a six-panel piece of artwork, repeated on each of four pillars within the room, that depicts a story involving a six-headed bird.
• At the center of the room is a hexagonal altar with six empty slots. This altar is somehow connected to music, and also to Vicra's resurrection.
• The next room was the Pantry whose main feature is a seemingly endless fountain of a red liquid containing Goodberry and some unknown other ingredient(s).
• Down the hall from the Pantry was "Warm Storage", where several people are kept barely alive by a masterpiece that patrols between this area and the Pantry.
• Next was "Cold Storage", which contained a mostly standard kitchen setup... and a mostly nonstandard portal to an unknown (but definitely cold) location.
• The party could not figure out how to get through the door to the next area, "The Unliving Quarters", so they doubled back to try a different path to the "Art Studio".
• In front of the door to the "Art Studio" was a half-orc who was held captive, seemingly just so that people could stab him and have him bleed onto a grate every time that they needed to go through the door.
• The party rescued the half-orc and found a different way to open the door, moving into the "Art Studio".

Full Recap

The party finds themselves deep below in a repurposed Ankheg nest, in search of Doctor Vicra Lammergeyer, also known as "The Flesh Artist", hoping to defeat him before he fully regenerates. After fighting through a confusing set of Turmoil-infested tunnels, and meeting some less-than-kind mutated locals (and a friendly dog), they descend a carved stairwell into "The Art Gallery".
A poem is scrawled on the wall, one line at a time, going down the stairs: Mentally, physically, and emotionally fatigued, they hope to uncover a place to catch their breath... but, it seems, as long as the doctor may breathe, there is little breathing room for the party.

Dropping Stool Where the Sun Don't Shine

This area is lit with torches, giving everything a pale orange glow. In this large chamber, there are four hexagonal pillars made out of acid stone that go into the ceiling. They have some kind of art sculpted and painted on them. In the center of the room is another hexagonal object. Smaller, more like a pedestal, reminiscent of an altar.
There are also three skeletons wandering around and a cultist behind one of the pillars, just out of sight of the party.

Dwardazik: It looks like there are skeletons down there. We should proceed with caution. Dazki, you think you can scout around and see if there's anything down there?
Dazki: Maybe, but I think you and Marvin would have a better time with your plague masks.
Marvin: I think so as well. Let's give it a shot.

They go down, Dwardazik checking for traps along the way.
The skeleton nearby is short, something like a goblin or a gnome. Inside of its chest cavity is what appears to be a windchime.

Dwardazik, whispering to Marvin: Looks like that skeleton could make a lot of noise. Probably a guard dog — err, guard... skeleton.
Marvin, whispering back: Or a guard... skeleton... dog!
Dwardazik, still whispering: Looks like a goblin — I mean a gnome. Anyways, let's push on.

Dwardazik tries (and fails) to be stealthy going into the room. Marvin, seeing Dwardazik fail like this, doesn't even bother. They approach the altar-looking pedestal in the middle of the room.
It's a short, hexagonal pedestal, roughly 5 feet tall. There's a faintly glowing musical notation that spirals around its mostly flat surface. The musical notation is interrupted by six divots, about 3 inches wide, that look like they are intended to be filled with... something. The musical spiral ends at the center, where there is a hollow glass cylinder of glittering black smoke.

Dwardazik, still whispering: Hey, I think we should go get that cultist.
Marvin sees that the cultist has a journal, and that he is trying desperately to take notes at the art piece that he is staring at.
Marvin, whispering back: Hey, follow my lead. I have an idea.

The two approach the cultist, Marvin in front. Almost dropping his journal, the cultist reflexively pulls out a crossbow. Editor's note: the cultist was writing in a book marked "Stool Pigeon's Journal", so I'm counting his name as being public knowledge.

Marvin: Greetings, brother — whoa, no need for that, brother!
Stool Pigeon: No, wait, who... who are you, though?
Marvin: We're the new recruits!
Stool Pigeon: I wasn't told of any new recruits.
Dwardazik: ...it's because we're new.
Marvin: Yeah, brand new! You didn't get the memo?
Stool Pigeon: What do you mean, "new"?
Marvin: We were just inducted yesterday!
Stool Pigeon: What do you mean, you were "inducted yesterday"?!
Dwardazik: We just got the gifts!
Stool Pigeon, looking confused: I didn't get any "gifts"! Wait, what do you mean?!
Marvin: The gift of... the knowledge, bestowed upon us! I never thought it could be so enlightening!
Dwardazik: Imagine the potential to change everything... this is going to change everything!
Stool Pigeon: ...OK...?
Dwardazik: You weren't gifted?!
Stool Pigeon: ...no?
Dwardazik: Wait, does that mean we're more important? Are we special? You're an ungifted! We don't have time for the ungifted!
Stool Pigeon: Wait, no, wait! Waitwaitwaitwait. What do you mean, "gifted"? Like, show me some cool gifts or something.
Marvin: It was the gift of knowledge. Eyes, on the inside.
Dwardazik gets really close and looks him in the eyes and starts talking quietly.
Dwardazik: I have seen. I have seen the signs. They're in my eyes... in my mind... all around me.

Stool Pigeon leans in closer to hear him out, but the dwarf just punches him roundly in the face.

Combat Summary

• Marvin opened by successfully casting a Hold Person spell on Stool Pigeon, ensuring that he would not be able to defend himself... or give any other information during the fight.
• Nearly every time a skeleton got hit, it would make a small jingling noise (the small one wasn't the only one who had a soundmaking device embedded in them).
• Only Dazki was actively attempting to hit any skeletons in a way that would not set off an alarm, dispatching a skeleton almost silently with a single hit from his rapier.
• For the others, didn't seem to matter: none of the skeletons wound up setting off an alarm that would have been loud enough for someone outside the room to hear it.
• Dwardazik knocked out the cultist with a nonlethal blow from his mace.

Marvin: You know what this means, guys: we have another mask!
Dazki: Yep! Kesmet, do you want it, or do you want me to put it on?
Kesmet: I'll take it. You're already pretty sneaky, I don't think you need it.
Dazki: Sounds good.

Kesmet takes the cultist's full outfit, which is a perfectly convincing disguise on its own, so Marvin didn't need to help him improvise (like he did with the other two, having just a mask and his disguise kit to work with).
The cultist has a few vials on the side of his belt, a crossbow, and an interesting-looking journal.

Dazki: All right, you guys take his clothes. Dwardazik, help me dump him in the Turmoil containment area.
Dwardazik: Roger that.
Kesmet: I dunno... that seems a little dark, for you. These guys are probably just misguided whatnots.
Dazki: Fair.
Marvin: Let's be fair. They chose this path.
Dwardazik: They're evil, and I'm not going to have us be tricked by their foulness again, and have us potentially die!
Kesmet: Guys, you're being corrupted by the Turmoil.
Grogery: We could get information from him, and not leave him to be mutated into something bad?
Dwardazik grabs the cultist's journal and tosses it to Grogery.
Dwardazik: There. Information.
Dazki: We did this so he wouldn't sound the alarm. If we don't do something about it, he may sound the alarm. If we leave him here, then someone might find him. What other choice do we have?
Kesmet: By that logic, we should just... you know...

Dwardazik: I'm down for that! Grogery, you want to do the honors?
Grogery: ...no!
Dwardazik: All right, then, into the containment zone!
Kesmet: It just feels so gratuitous! Look at him, he's so innocent looking!
Marvin: Throw him in the trash!
Grogery: What's wrong with just leaving him at the top of the stairs?
Dwardazik: He could sound the alarm if he wakes up.
Grogery: How long is that going to take?
Dwardazik: I don't know!
Marvin: Let's vote on it, then.
Dazki: We leave him at the top of the stairs, what, just unconscious?
Kesmet: This person has done us no wrong. Yes, maybe he might have alerted his boss or whatever, but he personally has done us no wrong.
Dwardazik pulls out his warhammer and is about to bash his head in, but he hesitates just enough that Kesmet could catch him.
Dwardazik: Why are you stopping me, huh? We're wasting time!
Kesmet: We'd be wasting more time cleaning this up. Plus, like I said, he personally hasn't done us any wrong! He just... was here. That's about it.
Marvin: If he's helping the Flesh Artist, then he's probably a bad guy.
Grogery: And we were helping Baxton. That doesn't make us bad people!
Marvin: Hey, speak for yourself!!
Kesmet: Benefit of the doubt, he might just be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Dwardazik: All right, we need to have a little talk, here. He points to each other party member in turn. Is this going to be a recurring thing? Are we going to be able to go through here and kill our enemies without having to try and band-aid them up after every single fight?
Kesmet: Our enemies, yes! This guy seems like more of a neutral party, though.
Dwardazik: ...right. And how far did we have to go down an ant-infested, Turmoil-ridden dungeon cave, with our arch-enemy the Flesh Artist, in order to get to him?
Kesmet: Are you implying that he, personally, set all those traps?
Dwardazik: I'm implying that he's evil, and he's a minion of the Flesh Artist.
Kesmet: Evil, good, same thing. All I'm saying is he hasn't personally done anything against us. Maybe because he hasn't had the chance! But he has not done anything against us. Hurting him isn't justice. It's not even revenge! It's nothing.
Marvin: Then tie him up, let's get all the skeletons, and then pile all the skeleton bones on top of him.
Kesmet: Maybe we can stuff a few in his mouth so he can't yell.
Marvin: Yeah.
Grogery: We have cloth here! We can gag him, tie him up.
Dwardazik: Dazki, you're always the voice of reason. Do you have anything to say, here?
Dazki just sighs.
Marvin: I'm trying to meet halfway. Personally, I'm OK with just throwing him in the Turmoil area and being done with him.
Dwardazik: I'm fine getting rid of him right here, right now, so we can move on.
Kesmet: Let's tie him up and put him somewhere in here, where he's not in immediate danger. Grogery, Dazki, your votes?
Grogery, responding more to Marvin: What, about anything you've seen in that area, makes you want to just condemn some random person to that fate? We're not leaving him out there. And we're not killing him! For all we know, he might have just been tricked or coerced into being here.
Dwardazik: So what are we going to do, drag him with us?
Marvin: Just put him under the table!
Grogery: Tie him up, gag him, and leave him down here if we can find a way to keep random passers-by from immediately noticing him and sounding the alarm. If not, put him at the top of the stairs.
Dwardazik: ...if this comes back to bite us, your vote gets removed from the next encounter.
Marvin: I agree with that.
Dazki sighs again.
Dazki: ...fine. Fine, someone give me some rope.
Dwardazik: I don't have any. I used it to get down the tunnel.
Dazki sighs again.
Dazki: Fine.

Dazki takes a length of rope out of his pack and cuts it off. He ties up the cultist, and cuts a strip of cloth from Grogery's cloak (Grogery offered) and stuffs it into the cultist's mouth. He stuffs the body under the cultist's research table, and Marvin and Dwardazik pile some bones in front of it. Once the job is done, Dwardazik sighs, clearly displeased but eager to move on. He sits down with a humph.

Marvin: Hey, that was pretty good, how we snuck up on 'im! You just gave 'im the ol' left hook, man!
Dwardazik: He wasn't prepared for that, heh-heh-heh! Guy hasn't ever been to a normal dwarven bar!
Marvin: I was gonna say, which bar did you pick up that move in?
Grogery: Dazki, did you want to go through the journal? Or should I?
Dazki: I'll do it.
Dazki moves over and takes the journal from Grogery, patting Dwardazik on the shoulder and saying "good job" as he passes by.
Dwardazik, giving Dazki a thumbs-up: Ahh... a breather. I could use this.

The journal is strange. He was actively writing in it, but as soon as it was dropped, it seems to have closed itself back up with a little leather strap. On the front, it says "Stool Pigeon's Guide to", and then there is a smooth silver plaque area that's left blank.
Dazki opens up the journal and intends to flip through the pages, but the book only opens to a page entitled "First Entry".

First Entry

Crow and Jackdaw keep cawing at me (haha) to learn all this complex art stuff, but I just don't get it. I mean, if the art has so much to say, shouldn't it be easy to understand?
Maybe the fact that is it hard to understand is the point of art?
Anyways, if I don't understand these pieces soon enough, I may become one. Which is probably not ideal, still not sure.
Good thing I have this nifty journal I can use to cheat with! I just need to find out how to stealthily write down the header in the space on the cover without Crow or Jackdaw noticing…

---

Update

Crow and Jackdaw found my journal and thought it would be funny to curse it without telling me. They didn't figure out what I use it for (thank gods!), but they wanted to teach me a lesson anyway.
Good thing I have lots of free time to rest, now that I've been taken off maintenance duty! Having to go through all these security doors was getting too annoying anyway.

It's obvious that this room was still primarily dug by the Ankhegs, just repurposed. There are three somewhat familiar-looking sliding doors in this room, each different and unique.

Short Rest

The party spends a short rest in this area. Most use this time to rest and recover, but Kesmet (hopped up on health potions) takes the opportunity to explore the room, especially the altar. He has a flash of excellence so great that, even though he cleanly pieces together what must be going on in this room in the moment, he can't quite keep it all in his head after he comes back down:
It all makes sense! It's all coming together! The spiraling musical notes, it's like the eye! It's like the Mirage, and it all goes to the center! That spiraly black smoke shit in the middle? That was the same kind of thing that the doctor turned into when you murdered him, and he flew away in a poof of purple sparkly mist! But this doesn't have the purple in it, so he must have been in here at some point! But then what's with the six divots in the side? Maybe the doctor's smoke stuff recharges the six things that would go in here? But then where would they go after they were recharged? Whoa, this case is coming wide open: there are six things! Musical in nature... the bird! Birds sing! Where have we seen birds before... oh shit, they're on all the art in these goddamn pillars around the room! That one right there, it's a bird with six fuckin' heads! The pillars... they tell a whole story! A terrible sad prophecy story!

Each face of the pillars is carved with what seems to be a series of intricate and elaborate pictures, almost prophetic in their design and complexity:

1. A doctor-surgeon surrounded in depressing, foreboding darkness. He kneels beside a slab upon which lays a tormented woman, her back arched as if gasping for breath, a small crow trying to escape her throat.
2. The doctor-surgeon has stepped off a sheer cliff. A fractal-like shadow at the bottom, sprouting fangs and tails to grasp the doctor-surgeon.
3. The doctor-surgeon transforms into a monster, sprouting an aura of black feathers and smoke, face stretched into a bird's beak. He sprouts wings and does not fall. A black tentacle helping him aloft by piercing through his neck. The doctor-surgeon's shadow: a monstrous, multi-headed crow.
4. A large multi-headed crow monster dwells over the dying woman, wielding its ferocious talons menacingly.
5. The multi-headed crow rips off one of its heads, granting it to the dying woman now shrouded in black feathers.
6. As the bird continues to hemorrhage and wander off, the woman rests with a bird head and wings. While still prone on the slab, an aura around her is rejoicing: an angel, reinvigorated. She is saved!

---

Dazki inspects the three doors in this room.

• The door to the south is labeled "Main Art Gallery". It contains a slot with runic symbols identical to the musical symbols on the pedestal. No other discernible mechanism.
• The door to the east is labeled "Pantry and Storage". It has a similar vault-like combination to what Dazki picked before, but it also has a needle for that "secondary authentication" similar to the door that led to this area originally.
• The door to the west is labeled "The Riddle of the Sphinx's Soul". Carved at the bottom is a small cup-sized well, with a plaque that reads "Art Requires Sacrifice".

Marvin: "Pantry and Storage"? Oh, we could put him in there! You could probably pick this lock, right?
Dazki: Yeah, and we'll just need the tied-up guy's hand for blood.
Kesmet: Why don't we just extract a bunch of blood from him right now? That way, whenever we come to these doors that require blood like this, we can just use it.
Dwardazik: Yeah, you've got those vials, right?
Kesmet: So many of them.
As they go to extract blood from Stool Pigeon, it's clear that this isn't the first time this has happened to him. He is covered in small cuts and wounds.
Kesmet: All right, who here has the most surgical experience so that we don't kill this man as we bloodlet him?
Grogery: That would probably be me...
Kesmet: OK, here's the plan. You hold a vial and... I don't know, cut him or something, and bleed his blood into the vial... and I will cauterize the wound.
Grogery: ...no! I'll just bandage it up afterwards. It's fine.
Kesmet: OK, OK, OK, but consider this: we get to save a bandage!
Grogery: But consider this: if you "cauterize the wound", so-to-speak, the pain might wake him up.
Kesmet: Hmm...
Grogery: ...or kill him. He's not in the best state right now.
Kesmet: Hmm... bah, a little fire never killed anyone. A lot of fire did.
Dazki: No, Kesmet. Not right now. Save your fire for when it's more important.
Grogery extracts the blood by himself, just fine.
Dwardazik: OK, I suggest we go through the "Pantry and Storage" door. Seems the most reasonable.
Marvin: Yeah, and if this really is a storage place, let's lock him up in there.
Dazki: Sounds good to me. Be ready with blood as I work on these tumblers.
They open the door. Beyond it is... a winding hallway.
Marvin: Strange for a storage cabinet...
Dazki: It could lead towards a larger space. They probably had to repurpose what the Ankhegs already had here. Probably not something they made, it just leads towards a chamber that can be used for actual storage.

The hallway leads to what must be that "pantry".

"Pantry"

The center of this chamber has a small fountain bubbling with red liquid. The entire room has an aroma that is sweet (fruity), but also meaty, which seems to emanate from that fountain. There are also several sacks and barrels around the corner. A security door blocks passage beyond this room.
Upon investigation, the barrels have more of that red liquid (no alcohol). In the sacks, there is mainly milled grains, fish meal, herbs, bone meal, dried berries, etc.

Dazki: Hey, Dwardazik?
Dwardazik: Yes?
Dazki: Can I steal a little bit of your dwarven ale?
Dwardazik: Oi, finally! He approaches Dazki as he pulls it out. I thought you'd never ask! What are we toasting to?
Dazki, playing it completely straight: We're dousing the unconscious guy in ale and putting him among the barrels and sacks and stuff.
Dwardazik, clearly dejected: Oh... fine. That's... at least a more reasonable situation to find him in, and it at least makes some sense. Ugh... waste of good ale.
They drag him to the pantry, take his gag off, and untie him, then they douse him in the alcohol.
When it's done, Dwardazik whispers to Dazki: You might want to keep that rope. Probably gonna need it again. He rolls his eyes.
Dazki, again playing it completely straight: I mean, it was my rope to begin with.

Dwardazik goes over to investigate the fountain some more. The liquid is room temperature. A little thick, like a tomato soup (but it definitely doesn't smell like it). One of the smells coming out of this fountain is goodberry, known for healing and nutrition. That's not the only thing, though: it doesn't explain the meaty smells. Regardless, this doesn't seem bad at all. Dwardazik fills a few empty potion bottles with the liquid.
With Goodberry revealed, Dazki expertly examines the fountain to see any other magical properties it might have. The pond itself produces some of the material required to make this nutritional stew (and the other pantry materials must be making it fully nutritious), but there must be some side-effects of this as well. A fountain that only produces goodberry would be revolutionary; what would it be doing in just some random cave?

Dazki: Might want to use that as a last resort, Dwardazik. It seems too good to be true.
Dwardazik: I understand. I'm curious about the properties of it. Many times, you have to sample the liquids and things that you find in the mines, in order to find other resources nearby.
Marvin: Oh come on, he's just interested to see if he can get drunk off of it.
Dwardazik, with a sigh: I'll have someone take a look at it in town. If we ever get back.
Marvin: "If"? What is this talk?! Stop it!
Grogery: When!
Dwardazik, annoyed: WHEN we get back to town.
Dazki: OK. So, he's here, and we have a reason why no one will believe him if he says he saw us. So, let's take a look at this next door.

The door here doesn't have a knob. There is a two-inch hole bored straight through it, right at the top of the door, about 7 feet off the ground. It is labeled with a plaque that says "Warm Storage: Masterpiece Entrance". Moaning and whimpering can be heard on the other side of this door. There are no other mechanisms.

Marvin, a bit distressed: Um... maybe... we might want to leave this one alone.
Dazki: Yeah, probably a good idea for now.
Dwardazik: Waitwaitwait. He approaches the door. Dazki, get on my shoulders!

Dazki and Dwardazik do a bit of their classic bickering for a while, but eventually, they are able to work together long enough for Dazki to peer through the hole.
There is, in fact, a masterpiece down this hallway:

In addition, there are injured-looking people within eyesight, and it looks like it may continue quite a bit further beyond. Definitely captives, obviously unwell, many of them slumped down or sitting half-consciously. The nearest one is affixed to a wall with two nails driven into his forearm. The next one down has just standard manacles.
Dwardazik calls Grogery over to look as well.
As you continue to watch, the masterpiece entity pushes its snout onto the side of the nearest half-conscious person, near the side of its belly. Satisfied, it moves onto the next individual down and does the same. The man weakly protests, but the entity does the same thing: jams its snout right into his side, holds it there for a while, and then moves on.

Dwardazik: What do you think, Grogery? We going in to save those people?
Grogery: Well, yes, but... it's unclear what's even going on.
Dazki: Don't forget the big question: how do we get in there?
Marvin: I'm pretty sure that us getting eaten isn't going to help them either, so...
Grogery: I don't think it's even eating them. It might be doing the opposite.
Marvin: I don't want to know what it's doing to those people with its tongue, OK?
Kesmet pulls out a crowbar.
Grogery: I wonder if there's another way in around the back?
Dazki: Probably.
Dwardazik: I think we're at a bit of an impasse. I was hoping this would lead somewhere else other than just "storage", or whatever. But now we've got two other doors in the main foyer, and then this door. I'm not sure how to get through any of them!
Grogery: Well, the one says "art requires sacrifice", right? Pretty clear that one of us drips a bunch of blood in it, and then it should open?
Dazki: That's my assumption as well.
Dwardazik: I guess we can always go try that.
Dazki begins investigating the nearby door anyway, looking for any ways of bypassing its mechanisms.
Marvin: Dude, that thing's gonna kill us!
Grogery: Not necessarily...
Dwardazik: What, you don't trust me?
Grogery: OK, this thing is called "Warm Storage", right? Based on what we've seen, this must be where he keeps bodies that need to stay alive for him to do stuff to them.
Dwardazik: If we get rid of these bodies, maybe that would help prevent him from resurrecting.
Marvin: OK, fair, but...
Grogery: This masterpiece, going around stabbing the people in the stomach, might be injecting them with food or water to keep them alive.
Dwardazik: Ugh, stop describing it! Your theories are driving me nauseous!

Dazki discovers that this door, labeled "Warm Storage: Masterpiece Entrance", is probably supposed to be opened by sticking in something that's very long and narrow, like a prehensile tongue. He notices a bunch of that red liquid from the fountain splattered around the inside of the mechanism. Kesmet convinces Dazki to let him try to use Mage Hand on his thieves' tools to get them deep enough into the mechanism to unlock it. It works, and the door opens.

Dwardazik, readying up for combat: All right, folks. Gear up, and be ready!
Grogery: We might be able to get through this without having it attack us. Be gentle, and try not to spook it.
Dwardazik: We're talking about the same thing, right? I'm not afraid of "spooking" the demonspawn.
Grogery: If this is what its job is, then chances are it's a noncombatant. We don't want it to go running away: it might tip somebody off that we're here.
Dwardazik: All right.

The party moves down the hallway labeled "Warm Storage", stealthing as they go.

"Warm Storage"

Getting closer to some of the people, each one seems to be in a slightly different situation. Some won't stop moaning. Many have missing bits of flesh, sometimes even bone, with long sutured scars. Lots of deformities and injuries, both, around here.
All, however, are obviously unwell, slumped against the wall half-conscious. They also all seem to be well fed and hydrated. Each one also has a circular mark and a healed scar on the same spot on their side, right where the masterpiece was seen fiddling with.
The party has a whispered conversation:

Dwardazik: The creature's in front of us. Should we ambush it now?
Grogery: Let's see where it goes.
Dwardazik: OK.

They follow it further down the hall, where there is a fork. One way leads to yet another door, the other to an open larger room of people in the same kind of situation as those who were scattered throughout the hall. The plaque on the door reads, "Gifts of Possibility and Duality".

Dwardazik: You think you can get that door open, Dazki?
Dazki, snapping back: I don't know? I thought we were trying to save the people from that thing!
Dwardazik: OK, so, are we going to fight it or not?!
Grogery: It doesn't seem to be hurting them.
Dwardazik just spits back a look at Grogery, mouth agape.
Dazki: I would tend to agree. It seems like it's keeping them alive.
Dwardazik just sighs.
Dwardazik: So, what do we do? Trail it? Go through the door?
Grogery: Is this another masterpiece door?
Dazki: I say we continue following the thing.
Dwardazik: All right, want to keep doing that, guys?
Dazki: There's got to be a door meant for people, not masterpieces, to go through.

They wait for an opportunity when the masterpiece is stopped focusing on a body, and then they quickly move around it, successfully managing to get past it, onto another terrifying-looking room.

Dwardazik: Heh. And now, we see the other side of the puzzle. Kept alive, to do what? Hmmph. Looks like torture and dissection to me.

Many more captives in here, and also piles of crates and animal cages with a variety of mangy animals inside of them. A large table has a man on it who won't stop screaming, red wiggly tentacles flailing out of his chest cavity.
Grogery and Dwardazik check on the man on the table; his current state is "incompatible with life", and yet he screams anyway.

Dwardazik: Grogery. You know as well as I do that this is unrepairable. Give him some mercy! I'm going to be hearing this, when I close my eyes at night, for days! We've got to get rid of him. Give him some mercy!
Grogery: I don't think I can do it.

Dwardazik smashes his head in, killing him immediately. After a few more minutes, the tentacles stop squirming as well.

---

Dazki explores one of the hallways in the room, finding quickly that it leads to yet another security door labeled "Cold Storage". No knob, but bolted with an iron rod and a very nice-looking padlock. The door itself does not feel cold. Examining the padlock, it's actually not just any ordinary padlock: this is a Silver Dragon Hoard Guardian Lock, model 2700! It's an elven design that's very popular in the locksport community for being incredibly difficult to pick, and it has a mechanism that will cause it to purposely jam up if you try to pick it and fail. Dazki has always wanted to pick one, though he has never had the opportunity... until now. He explains this to the rest of the party.

Marvin: All right, Dazki. I know we haven't known each other for very long, but from what I can tell, you're a competitive man. Are you gonna fuckin' let this lock get the fuckin' best of you?! We've got a world to save here, man! (Bardic Inspiration)
Kesmet, pulling out his crowbar: And if you fuck it up, there's always Option B.
Dwardazik, pulling out a pickaxe: And option C!
Kesmet: Grogery, get over here! We need your mace for Option D!
Grogery: Why would you need my mace for Option D?
Dazki: Let's hope Plan A works.
It does. Dazki keeps the padlock with him as a memento.
Dwardazik: Mighty fine craftsmanship on that kind of lock, there. Elven design, eh?
Grogery: What do dwarven-designed locks look like?
Dwardazik: A giant metal bar.
Kesmet: I thought it was just a giant rock that you roll in front of the door?
Dwardazik: We do that too.

"Cold Storage"

The space here is overwhelmed with crackling red light and an ever faint cool breeze, both coming from a portal-like structure in the far corner. There is also makeshift storage area and kitchen

Dwardazik: I'm getting flashbacks to that orb inside that creature.
Grogery: Yeah, who's to say that it doesn't teleport things directly over here?
Dwardazik: Questions and questions. Let's explore, carefully.

Dwardazik stands guard by the portal, watching to make sure nothing comes out. The others explore the rest of the room, which seems to just be a kitchen that the cultists would use to make food for themselves. Dwardazik approaches the portal, which continues to emit a cackling red energy. He picks up a loose stone and throws it at the portal. It disappears at it hits the portal.

Dwardazik: Hey, guys. I just threw a rock through that thing, and it looked like it actually teleported somewhere.
Marvin: Just gonna go on the record: rocks aren't people.
Dwardazik: I understand that, but I'm wondering... is it possible to tie something to a piece of rope, toss it through, and then try to pull it back?
Dazki: Yes, but we don't need to right now. We should keep moving forward.
Dwardazik: I suppose so. I'm just suspicious that we may wind up having to go through here at some point.
Dazki: If we do, we'll do it then.
Grogery: Probably a pocket dimension cold... thing. Whenever they would need cold parts that the Glutton of Hershal's Rest ate, they would send someone in and get stuff from there.
Dwardazik: We should be careful moving forward. That last area was meant for the masterpiece, but this looks like it's a direct connection where the cultists might go to. We might expect some company soon.

As they move on towards the next security door, Dazki spots a pressure plate trap in front of a torch. The party safely moves past it, to check out this door.
This door is labeled "The Unliving Quarters". There is a zombie head bolted to the door with an iron band. It has no eyes or ears, but it still has its windpipe (dried, rawhide). Carved on its forehead is the word "PASSWORD".

Dazki: Well, I imagine that none of us could properly guess the password.

There is no handle or other mechanism visible, but the rawhide windpipe has holes bored in it at regular intervals, similar to that of a flute or a recorder.

Kesmet: Maybe the password is a tune? Or a song?
Dwardazik: Oh no, what about the symbols from that first foyer room? Those looked like some kind of musical notes, right?
Kesmet: Maybe if we gather all the stones that fit into that altar, it will complete the notes that are missing, and we'll know what kind of tune we'll have to play for this door!
Marvin: Possibly.
Dwardazik: Regardless, there was another path behind us that we didn't go through. It was part of where the masterpiece was. We also still have that original door in the foyer, and I'd rather not lose our chance of opening this door by setting off an alarm.
Kesmet: Yeah. Let's go back.
Marvin: Actually, what about the portal?
Dwardazik: I'm interested in it, but only for curiosity's sake. Who knows where it could lead! It could lead straight to a death trap.

They double back around to the last room of Warm Storage and exit via the other path.

Art Studio: Prologue

The hallway ends at another door with an emaciated half-orc standing in front of it. He dangles limply by his arms from manacles in the ceiling, right next to the door. He has marks all over his body from being stabbed repeatedly. He stands, just barely, on a pressure plate that has on it a small carving, like a grate or drain. A sign hangs from his neck:

The body only has rights because the soul inhabits it.
Bits, once removed from the soul's control, are just matter.

The half-orc, having seen the party members disguised as cultists, starts to beg for mercy.

Dazki: All right, all right! Just calm down! I'm going to disable the pressure plate beneath you, and then we can have a conversation, OK? Just be quiet for a minute, and we'll see what we can do, OK?
Half-Orc, stammering: I didn't do nothing, please don't!

Dazki disables a trap that's connected, somehow, to the pressure plate: some canisters of what must have been poisonous gas that would surely have escaped if this door were handled improperly.

Dwardazik: Quiet him! He's going to wake up the entire mine!
Dazki: OK, you can take your foot off the pressure plate now. It's OK, I've disabled the gas.

When the half-orc continues to make frantic movements, Dazki gags him, then Kesmet takes out his crowbar and jumps off the wall to pry off the chains that the half-orc is attached to. He succeeds at freeing the half-orc, who immediately collapses from exhaustion.

Kesmet: Hey, guys... do you know what this means?
Marvin: No?
Dazki: What?
Dwardazik: Hm?
Kesmet: We have chain again! I lost my 3-foot chain a while ago.
Grogery: ...I have chain. We were gonna trade it in Overlook.
Kesmet: Oh. We do? I lost mine. I thought that was the only one.
Dwardazik: Well, having more chain can't hurt... more importantly, can we get this guy sorted? We might need to use that chain to lock him up if he isn't going to cooperate.
Kesmet: OK. Mr. Emaciated Orc Person, are you going to cooperate?
Half-Orc: I don't have a choice... just do whatever you're going to do, please.
Kesmet: Please cooperate.
Grogery: That was him cooperating. Sir, we are not going to hurt you.
Dwardazik: Yeah, we're not cultists. He lifts off the cultist mask. We're heroes! Can you tell us how to defeat these guys? Or, like, what's the password that the cultists are using to get through that one other door out of Cold Storage?
Grogery: We're here to stop the group responsible for your suffering.
Kesmet: Not that we necessarily knew who you were, or that you were suffering. You just happened to be here. We are here for our own purposes.
Dwardazik: Look, when's the last time you saw a dwarf, an elf, a goblin, a halfling, and a Genasi all walking through this cultist at the same time? We're not cultists.
Half-Orc: ...is this another trap?
Grogery: Nope.
Dazki: That door behind you. I'm assuming that you have to bleed into that drain to open it? Is that right?
Half-Orc: Yeah. Just do what you're going to do.
Grogery: Does it have to be you, specifically, or can anyone bleed into it?
Half-Orc: I don't know. Why would I know?
Dwardazik: How much blood is necessary? Is it a drop? A squirt? An entire leg?
Half-Orc: Why would I have, like, a recipe? If you're going to stab me anyways, just stab me.
Dwardazik: But how much blood does it take?
Kesmet: It sounds like just one stabful.
Dwardazik pulls out one of the goodberry potions and pours it in, hoping that it would just register any kind of liquid. It doesn't work.
Kesmet: We do still have some of the blood from that cultist in the main room. Let's give that a shot?
Grogery: First, while you guys are figuring out who's going to bleed into the door, let me give this guy some rations and let him take a drink from my waterskin. He looks in a really bad way, and we're helping him get out of here.
Kesmet: I will cauterize whatever wound is made.
Grogery: You don't need to cauterize any wounds, Kesmet!
Kesmet: Why not?
Dazki: We have many bandages.
Kesmet: ...OK.
Grogery: Cauterizing a wound isn't even all that useful. Yes, it's better than nothing, but bandages are so much better!
The half-orc has many stab wounds on him, but all of them have healed over quite nicely. It seems that healing magic is very popular here.
Grogery: These people are so cruel to you!
Dwardazik: This place is disgusting. They torture people just for opening a damn door?! Ridiculous. I'm gonna make them pay.

They drip some blood from the cultist in the first room until the door unlocks. It doesn't take much. They enter the room.

Campaign

Mirage

Protagonists

Report Date

23 Jul 2021

Primary Location

Vicra Lammergeyer's Lair