Session 45 - Ruins of Fangkeep

General Summary

45th Amberspell - Contd.

The space beyond the crack proved to be a dark lightless hallway with smooth straight walls and ceiling and black metal plates for the floor. To the left, the hall was cut off by some sort of bulkhead emblazoned with the reversed black and red star. Interesting, this star was missing the inverted ziggurat, similar to the ones seen in the ruined guardhouse last spring.

Ranunkel began running a hand over the stone and took a moment to extend his senses into and through the rock of this strange complex. The rock was sound and from the feel of things, the ruin stretched up for several levels. It was definitely natural stone, but there were no signs of chisel or pickaxe along the surface. Looking to the others he said, "There's no sign anyone worked this stone, but it's clearly not natural. Nothing in nature is that even or squared."

Denye cocked her head to one side in thought for a few moments before sighing and shrugging, "I haven't come across anything like that in my research."

Janora came over and felt the wall, "This Basin was caused by the explosion of the Mad Mage's stronghold, Fangkeep or something likewise pretentious, right? Whatever this place is, it's probably some piece of that. He had all kinds of magical toys, like that shooter Denye has. Maybe he had one for cutting through rock."

"Disintegration," said both Ranunkel and Denye at the same time. Ranunkel smiled and nodded, "It they had some way to control the beam that would work. Seems like a waste to just destroy all that stone though."

"What's this?" asked the witch pointing to the wall near the bulkhead. It took a moment to realize that the discoloration on the walls were letters, the waters of the lake and time having eroded the paint. Studying it for several long moments, Janora puzzled it over before announcing, "Inquisition...whatever that " Turning to the bulkhead itself, it was easy to see the tracks in the side walls and Janora announced, "We might be able to lift it." The half-elf witch tried themselves, but couldn't budge it. Annoyed, they headed down to the other hall to explore that door.

Ranunkel tried to lift the bulkhead as well and managed to raise it several inches before dropping it back down with a loud clang. Wincing at the sound that vibrated through the water, he said, "We can shift it, but it's probably going to take at least three of us."

From the other end of the hall, Janora called, "Hey Denye, what does Decontamination mean?"

"Some sort of cleansing or removal of contaminates," replied the Corva wizard, "Why?" Making her way over to Janora, the witch pointed out the eroded word. Unlike the other end, these were clearly a set of doors with a visible split down the middle, but no sign of knob or keyhole. Looking around a bit more Denye noticed a panel inset into the wall with a squarish crystal and a thin slot below it.

Tapping the crystal, it lit up with a dull red glow, showing that the panel had power. Staring at it Denye muttered, "That looks like it could take some sort of keycard. Probably to control who could access whatever is behind the doors. Have we seen a keycard anywhere? I feel like I've seen something like that recently." The wizard began going through her pack, pulling things out to float in the water.

it wasn't long till she pulled out the satchel that the broken force pistol had been found in. Pulling out a small rectangle of strange material with a thin emerald cabochon inset. "Ah ha," crowed Denye excited, "I knew we had found something like that. Now, what are the chances it will work here?" The card slid easily into the slot and the red light began to pulse before turning to a yellow light. Denye looked confused for a second and then tapped the glass panel. The light inside turned green and the doors slid open.

The room beyond was flooded as well. A short column stood in the center of the room, a large switch atop it, and another bulkhead blocked what was likely the exit. Several large crystal panels were set into the walls at about head height as were a series of small grates along the floor line. Centered in the ceiling above the switch was an enormous topaz.

Ell eyed the crystal nervously before looking at the pedestal and the large switch. Carved into the stone was the word Cycle. Vellikar joined him and began examining the pillar looking for signs of what it did or controlled, but the pillar was smooth and fitted into the floor. The switch itself was oriented north to south and currently lay pointing north."

"So the sign outside," said Denye a bit hesitantly, "said Decontamination, which if I am understanding it correctly means some sort of cleansing ritual or cycle. And the switch says cycle, which probably means on and back off again, which means if we pull the lever, it will probably open the other door but only after subjecting us to some sort of purification rite. I suggest everyone get in here and close your eyes."

Ranunkel stepped back into the room as Jilken leapt for the switch and threw it. Another bulkhead slammed into place behind the dwarf with a reverberating clang. For a moment nothing else happened and then a series of seven blinking lights, all red, appeared in one of the panels. Another panel showed lines of text scrolling past, unreadable in it's speed. Slowly, the blinking red orbs turned green. When the second one turned there a faint hum began drifting down from above as the huge topaz was filling with light.

The light in the gem continued to grow and pulse as the third blinking light turned green. As the fourth switched, Denye called out, "Shut your eyes." The warning was sound for no sooner had she spoken then a bright flash and a wave of warm energy pulsed out through the chamber. The hum died away and Ell opened his eyes to see the fifth light change. As it did so, the water level of the room began to drop quickly. The air that replaced the water was fresh and breathable and when the final light changed, the far bulkhead slid up and the doors opened.

The corridor beyond looked much like the earlier hallway and stretched to the edge of Darkvison. Janora tossed out four balls of dancing light. In the soft gloom, a side passage was visible 60ft ahead on the left, but the corridor continued straight ahead as well. Just in the range of the furthest light a pair of doors was also visible, but disappeared again as Janora moved down the side hall.

The hall continued 80-100ft before turning right, perpendicular to the long hallway. Another short passage T-ed into the side hall about halfway along its length. Janora moved up and sent a light down for a cautious look. A pair of doors matched one another near the end and a large cabinet of deep blue wood stood in the dead-end.

"Hey Ell," Janora called over her shoulder, "We might have found some treasure." The young noble came running and going first to the cabinet, he swung the doors open only to find it empty. Sighing he tried the eastern door, tapping a glowing yellow button. The door slid open and Ell stepped inside before realizing that a large ball of fire bobbed into the center of the small room. As the Flaming Sphere threw itself at Ell, through the rings he called, "Help me...big ball of fire."

Both Tear and Jilken ran toward the danger, but couldn't really get close with Ell blocking the door. Janora pointed at the ball of flame and conjured up a large ball of water to contain it. The combo made the water boil and turn to steam, but Ell dove to the floor to avoid getting burned. As the steam cleared, the living spell still blazed, but not quite as large as it had been.

Looking at everyone crowding into the short hall, Denye backed up a bit to where she could keep an eye on the danger and held her hands up, ready to cast if needed. Ranunkel did likewise, just in time to see another strange looking creature appear down the hall at the corner. The shape was vaguely humanoid, but tall and thin, and looked to have been cut out of a piece of night sky. Seeing this strange creature, Denye let out a loud squawk and launched a ray of frost at the construct. As the bolt hit, the creature moaned in pain before wrapping it's arms around itself and pulling in. A wave of gravity pulled at both Denye and Helenwye, pulling the Corva wizard up next to the living spell.

Looking around in the darkness, Vellikar was hard pressed to see his friends, but knowing that there was trouble, he lifted his staff and cast Conjure Woodland Beings. A band of eight Sprites flickered into being around the druid who pointed at the Living Gravity Spell and said, "Attack that creature." The eight tiny fey beings raised small swords and gave a high-pitched battle cry.

A thin cloud of dust slid out from the other door and formed itself into a spinning Dust Devil, slamming itself into Janora's husky in the process. Finally gathering his wits, Ell threw a Ray of Frost at the Flaming Sphere. The ice completely enveloped the fire smothering it. A moment later, a baseball sized chunk of ice dropped to the floor and shattered. Spinning around to see what else was attacking, Ell spotted the dust devil over Jilken's shoulder and dove into the smaller room. Climbing up onto some boxes where he would have a good view, the warlock put his back to the wall and called, "What are these things, why are they attacking us?"

With the dust devil as the closest enemy Tear of Midnight Sorrow scooted around the husky to get a better view. Pulling back the shortbow, the goblin released an arrow, but the wild winds knocked it aside and the missile spun up to land on top of the cabinet. Moving back around the large dog for cover, the small goblin eyed the pack of sprites behind him with a suspicious glare.

Jilken looked at the spinning cloud and raised her heavy crossbow. The bolt tore though the whirlwind and hit the door behind with a thunk. A second bolt from the Rainbow Reaper followed a moment a later and this time the wind died away and the dust settled to the floor.

Janora looked down from atop the dog and smiled, "Well that's a relief, thank you, Jilken."

The Aiel grinned back, "That wasn't much of a challenge. They were quite strange however."

Hearing the trouble back down the hall, Janora peeked around the corner and saw the gravity construct. They also saw all the sprites fluttering in the air. The witch pursed their lips in disapproval and moved closer to the living spell. Janora threw a Firebolt at it, but at the last second the being ducked and it splashed into the wall. Annoyed, the witch asked the Husky to bark. The sound of the bark echoed through the halls and four of the sprites just vanished in puffs of faerie fire. The construct rocked back as well. Unfortunately, so did Denye, covering her ear tufts with a squawk. Janora covered their mouth with a shocked hand, "I am so sorry, I didn't mean to hit you as well."

Denye shook her head back and forth for a moment, "It's fine...I think. Everyone should cover their ears though, because this will get loud." Pointing a claw at the living spell, the wizard cast Shatter. As the high clear bell tone sang out, the creature howled in pain and the starfield of it's body began to show small rips.

With another piping battle-cry, the four remaining sprites swarmed the Gravity Sinkhole, their small bows shooting tiny arrows at the creature. With another howl, the living spell released another wave of irresistible force. The sprites slammed into the creature and vanished in puffs of light. Denye too slammed into the creature once more, just in time to catch a limp Helenwye. Chirping in alarm and worry, the wizard wrapped the unconscious pseudodragon around her own neck in the hood of her cloak. Vellikar, still unable to see much dark, found Denye and laying a hand on the Corva's shoulder cast Cure Wounds on her.

Ell moved out into the hall to get a better look, but moved cautiously, as Tear rounded the corner and pulled out the new alchemical lantern. Unfortunately, he had some difficulty opening the shutter and ended up splattering himself in globs of alchemist fire. Dropping the lantern, he began swearing in Goblin and trying to brush the goo off of himself. Jogging around the corner, heavy crossbow already lifted, Jilken took a moment to aim over her allies heads before pulling the trigger. The bolt went right through the face of the creature and pinned it to the wall before it dissipated like smoke.

Everyone looked at one another for a moment before Janora slid of the husky and ran over to Denye as Ell rushed to Tear. The young man helped the small goblin get the last of the alchemist fire off before handing Tear a healing potion. The goblin fighter took it gratefully. As the burns on his hands faded, the goblin smiled at Ell, "Thanks Boss. Tricky latch, I practice, do better next time."

Meanwhile, Janora had reached Denye. The young wizard looked tired and ruffled, but Vellikar's magic had eased much of the bruising. The witch asked, "What happened to Helenwye, is she okay?"

"I'm...I'm not sure," replied Denye with a sad caw, "She got hit with that blast. I think she was still breathing." The Corva carefully pulled the unconscious lizard on and cradled it in her arms. The witch laid a finger on the chest of the pseudodragon. Feeling a slight movement Janora cast Spare the Dying to stabilize the lizard. Denye quickly cast Cure Wounds on the familiar as well. As the spell sank into the pseudodragon, her scales began to glitter more brightly and Helenwye opened her eyes and blinked several times. With a trilling call, the small lizard scrambled up around Denye's neck and rubbed her head against the wizard's cheek.

Denye dropped her beak in a grin, "That's a relief."

Janora eyed the wizard up and down, "You still took a beating. Are you okay?"

"Just tired," replied Denye with a nod, feathers drooping, "and a little sore still." Reaching down into her bag Denye pulled out two healing potions and downed them both. Looking much more energetic, Denye asked, "So was there at least anything interesting down that hallway?"

Ell shrugged, "It looked like a storeroom, but I didn't really get a chance to look around yet. Tear and I will go have a look. There was that other door too, the one the dust devil came out." Heading back down, Ell took a better look at the room. Sets of wire grated shelves were bolted into the walls on either end of the small room and a number of opened crates and barrels were stacked on the far side. Everything appeared to be ransacked; the shelves were empty as were most of the boxes. A couple had bits of stained cloth covering the bottom. Ell pulled the first one out, but it looked to be nothing more than a piece of sailcloth. When he reached in to the second crate to retrieve the other piece, the young noble caught a splinter in his thumb. Jerking back the hand he removed the splinter and was just sucking on the thumb and making noises of disgust when Janora called from the other room, "Hey Ell, can you come look at this and see if it makes any more sense to you."

It seemed Janora had been exploring the other room. This room contained a large table and a handful of chairs that were laying tossed around the room. One of the chairs lay at the far end of the table in a cloud of glass chips. It was fairly clear from the smashed wall panel nearby that the chair must have struck it during the Cataclysm and subsequent falling to the bottom of the crater. The witch gave a cursory glance to the room, but was immediately focused on the far wall where someone had painted the word Meldoh in a dark reddish-brown. As Ell stepped in, Janora pointed at the word and asked, "Can you read that...or know what it means?"

Ell squinted at the word, but it didn't translate into anything. Giving a shrug he said, "I'm not sure, maybe it's a name or code."

"A code?," repeated Denye, entering the room and bringing her small circle of light from the lantern.

"Or a name," said Ell, pointing out the word before moving closer to get a look at the paint. Touching it he blanched and said, "I'm pretty sure this is blood." Pulling his hand away, the noble pulled out a handkerchief and began wiping his fingers, "Let's go see what other surprises we can find."

Moving back in to the corridor the team found that the halls continued around to form a square and the room blocked by a set of locked double doors with handles and keyhole. There was one other door at the northwestern corner, but Ell got excited and pulling out his lockpicks set to work. Unfortunately on the last pin, the tip of the pick started to bend and the young man extracted the tools with a snarl of annoyance.

Tear looked excited and pulled out his own set of lockpicking tools. "I try," he said, "Tear is very good with locks." Sadly, he didn't seem to fair any better.

"Well," said Ranunkel, "I've got a battle axe. It looks like wood, we could just break it down."

Denye sighed, "I can open it, but it's going to be loud."

Janora barked a laugh, "I'm pretty sure that between the dog and your Shatter spell anyone who might be there already knows we are here."

"That is true," replied Denye, "Alright, everybody cover your ears." Stepping up to the door, the wizard held up a claw and muttered an incantation before rapping on the door. A deep Knock echoed down the halls and the doors flew open. The room beyond was a good sized and seemed to only contain a few objects. Several large tables were overturned against one wall, with a few scattered bowls or trays scattered across the floor. On the opposite wall, a large frame of silver at least 10ft wide stood attached to a small platform and a couple of steps.

Denye got quite interesting in this, particularly once she found and began tracing the spell inscriptions, etched into the frame. After a few minutes of study, the wizard pronounced, "I think it's some sort of anchor point for a teleport spell. Similar in some ways to the Teleport Circles that more advanced mages can use, but this spell is like nothing I have ever studied." With that she lapsed into silence as she sketched the construct, except for a muttered, "I wonder if we could take this with us?"

Janora snickered, "Even if you could get it off the wall, it would probably fit through the hallways, but how would you get it out that crack?" Giving Denye a wry grin, the witch added, "Besides, that sounds more like something you should plan for when you lead a research team down here. Let's go see what's in that other room...hopefully a set of stairs."

There were no stairs, but there was a large hole, roughly 30ft across, in the ceiling of the room. A low stone platform was positioned directly under the hole and a large round slab lay cracked and askew atop it. Near the edge of the platform there was a small column with a single button of polished blue lace agate.

Denye went directly to the platform and began sketching and examining the magical runes carved on both it and the stone disc. Ell headed for the pedestal and after examining it for any writing or runes pressed the button. He waited for a moment, but nothing happened. He pressed it again, but still nothing happened.

Denye called over, "I don't think that is going to do anything, see here how the disc is cracked, even if this had power I'm not sure it would work. I'm not certain how it was propelled upwards, but it's quite clear that the spells in each worked together to raise the disc."

"So how do we get up there?" asked Ranunkel.

Jilken snorted, "We climb a rope...that is, if someone can get up there and tie one to something."

"If we wait a few minutes," began Janora, "I could cast Find Steed again and call on the raven."

Denye shook her head, "I can just cast Fly on myself. Does someone have rope?" Jilken pulled a coil out of her pack and handed one end to Denye. The wizard had already cast the spell and with a few flaps of her wings she lifted up and disappeared into the level above. A few moments later, she called down, letting the rest know it was secured and one by one the rest of the party climbed up.

This room was very similar to the room below except for the hole instead of the stone platform in the floor and the fact that the pedestal here had two buttons, the blue lace agate as before, as well as a second button of polished snowflake obsidian. Another hole in the ceiling suggested a third level, but the party decided it would be best to explore this level first.

Making their way out the door, they found another long hall leading north/south. On the wall across from the door two words were painted with arrows. The first arrow pointed north to where the hall turned eastward and the sign declared that Laboratory 7 lay in the direction. The second arrow pointed south to Holding.

Ranunkel asked, "What's Holding...like some sort of storage room?"

"Maybe," replied Vellikar, unsure, "let's go see."

Only about 40ft or so down the hall the team found another door, this one flanked by banners of a brackish green. The double doors were unlocked and Ell carefully pushed one open. The room beyond was smallish, maybe 40ft square and was dominated by a ritual circle inscribed in the stone in the center of the room. A short round table stood in the center and held a bow almost as big as the table. A tall pillar of grayish stone, carved to resemble a series of creatures with ghastly features stood against the far wall and four large clay pots in the corners completed the room's furnishings.

Janora stepped hesitantly into the room to begin looking around, with Ell and Denye following close behind. Ell went over to examine one of the pots while Denye paced around the outside of the ritual circle, sketching it for later study. Janora took a look at the statue pillar, but upon realizing the bottom figure holding all the rest was a pair of humans, got weirded out and stepped back out into the hall with the others.

The pot Ell was examining didn't seem to have a lid, rather a plug had been mortared in. Not yet wanting to break the pot, Ell turned around and moved toward the table and bowl to get a better look. As he did so, the pillar flared with a dark green light and the doors slammed closed. A moment later a voice echoed into the air, "It has been some time. Who has come to pay offering to Gozriun?"

Over the earrings, Janora asked, "Everything okay in there?"

"Umm, not sure yet," replied Denye, "The pillar lit up with green fire and a voice asked if we were here to give an offering to Gozriun. Name ring any bells?"

Meanwhile Ell attempted to engage the voice, "Well, um, my name is Ell." At his words Denye elbowed him in the hip and shook her head, pointedly ignoring the voice. Undeterred, Ell went on, "Not exactly, we just found this room while exploring this ruin."

"Ahh treasure-seekers," wheezed the voice, "as I said, it has been quite some time since I have spoken with a mortal. However, it is a difficult thing to do and quite taxing. You must give me...some strength with which to reach out to you."

Ell glanced over at Denye who was staring back at the young man disapprovingly and keeping up a telepathic mantra, "Don't do it, don't engage, don't listen, don't give it anything."

Back out in the hall, Janora didn't recognize the name, but Jilken did. Childhood stories in the seitch spoke of that name as a demon who would come in the night to steal a tribe's water or offer deals that looked good but always ended in him claiming your soul. She related this through the link and warned, "Don't make any deals, he will try to trick you and trap us."

Oblivious to this mental conversation, the voice of Gozriun continued, "There is a bowl, just an offering within and I will be able to reach out and share my knowledge with you. Secrets of realms far beyond this mortal plane, yours for the taking. All I ask for is a sacrifice."

At that last statement, Denye whirled to the door and cast Knock once more, throwing the door open. As the door opened the voice called, "No, no, you shall not leave." All four of the clay pots burst open and four giant scorpions scuttled out and toward Ell and Denye. Ell was the first to react, running out the door and holding a pair of Eldritch Blasts for the first scorpion to emerge.

Jilken pushed her way up to the door and fired off two bolts, breaking the stinger off of one of the beasts. Denye backed and pressed her back against the wall of the corridor. Throwing up both claws she cast Dawn deep in the room, a column of bright sunlight lighting up the space. Calling to the other, she said, "Jilken, Ranunkel, and Vellikar, you are immune to the spell if you need to close on these creature." As the scorpions screamed in pain, the green fire surround the pillar dimmed and spluttered.

Janora raised a hand to cover their eyes and began to cast Chill Touch, holding it for one of the beasts to get into range as the husky bared his teeth and began to growl as the giant scorpions rushed out of the room towards the party. As the first creature rushed out the door, Ell let loose with his Eldritch Blasts. Both shots landed, hitting the beast square in the face, but neither blast pushed the creature back. Ell looked at his hands in shock as the beast rushed up to slam it's stinger into Ell's shoulder. A spectral dog paw tried to stop it as Janora's Chill Touch went off, but the large insect ignored it. The stinger hit Ell in the shoulder and pumped a load of poison into the young man, his face going white as his system went into shock. Ranunkel slammed his Thunderstaff across the beasts head as the husky snapped.

A second scorpion skittered out and tried to sting the husky but the dog danced out of the way as a third caught Jilken in the arm. She managed to resist the poison and sent a shock of lighting dancing back across the scorpion. Tear peaked around Vellikar and fired an arrow at the damaged scorpion attacking Ell, but it bounced off an unbroken plate. Vellikar pointed a finger at the nearest creature and loosed a Poison Spray.

Ell panicked after the vicious blow and cast Thunderstep, vanishing in a roll of thunder and reappearing further up the hall. It was enough to shatter two of the scorpions, but unfortunately, it also rocked most of the party. Ranunkel shook his head to clear it before slamming his staff down onto the head of the last remaining creature, ichor spreading on the floor.

Realizing that the fight was over, Denye dropped the Dawn spell as Ell started apologizing for hurting everyone else with the spell. Denye waved him off and carefully entered the room. Skirting the ritual circle carefully, she examined the stone pillar and was quite pleased to see that it was blackened and cracked, with no sign of life or arcane power. Stepping back out into the hall, she shook her head, "Ell, let's not talk to any strange voices for a while, okay?"

Ell was leaning with one hand braced on the wall, and nodded weakly, "You are probably right, those stingers were nasty. Can we take a short rest? I need to sit down for a while."

The rest of the party agreed and Janora ritually cast Tiny Hut to give them a bit of protection. The witch also took a few minutes to dismiss the husky and call up the mountain goat. Nothing attacked and an hour or so later most of the party was feeling a bit better. 

Continuing their exploring, Janora found another door at the end of the hall. Listening carefully for a moment, there were no sounds beyond, so Janora carefully eased the door open. In the greys of darkvision with no light, a roiling cloud of smoke hovered in the large room. Janora stepped into the room carefully, the mountain goat just behind them. That seemed to trigger the spell cloud and it began drifting towards the witch.

Report Date

25 Mar 2022

Primary Location

Wolfworth Basin