Realm 09: The Staircase

Realm 9, known simply as "The Staircase," appears to be an infinitely descending spiral staircase. Unlike other realms, this one appears as a breach from another realm, Realm 79: The Junction. Its mouth sits on Amadeus Isle, at the former site of Zikrieg Academy

by Midjourney

Origins & Discovery

A magical experiment seemed to destroy the academy, leaving nothing left but its foundation. It was later discovered that Archmage Zikrieg attempted to transport his magical university into a pocket dimension.

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In fact, as surmised by the demilich D.L., Zikrieg managed to open a breach into another "region" of reality. The academy now resides in Realm 82.

What appeared to be the basement and foundation of Zikrieg Academy revealed itself to be something quite different upon exploration.

by Midjourney

The funding behind the experiments at Zikrieg Academy, a secretive organization known at the ALUMN, began immediate investigations into the accident site.

A One Way Trip

Several expeditions into the Staircase were met with abject failure. Using advanced technological and magical abilities, ALUMN member and spymaster Kevin Killroy managed some communication with party members, but this was unreliable. Teleportation into and out of the Staircase was deemed impossible. In fact it is believed that no one, and no thing, has managed to leave the Staircase after entering.

by Midjourney

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An Ill-Fated Party

When it was surmised that survival in the Staircase was not possible, the ALUMN began to send less skilled and more expendable expeditionary forces. They finally struck some success with a party of four ne'er-do-well adventurers with ties to the criminal underworld. Petra the half-elf, Xarus the tiefling, Lucien Cabot the halfling and Simon Blinker the human comprised this party. They were selected due to lack of questions which would arise after their disappearance, and their willingness to commit questionable deeds for monetary reward. This party, like those before them, never left the Staircase. They did, however, locate an important artifact.

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The Book of Zed

The ALUMN tasked their team with locating a tome known as the Book of Zed. It is believed this was a record of the findings of Archmage Zikrieg which were stored in the basement levels of his school. Others claim it was his personal spell book.

by Midjourney

ALUMN member Rav'na'rel Val'cari was very protective over the importance of this book, and perhaps the driving force behind finding it.

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This last known mission into the Staircase managed to locate the Book of Zed, and this information was relayed to the ALUMN.

The Nature of the Stairs

As one descends the staircase, its apparent construction and general sense of reality changes. The only consistency is that there is always a way to descend further using stairs.

by Midjourney

There are regular landings and floors. Each floor is radically different, seeming to be from different realities. Entities on these floors act more like simulacrums of people. Some floors are hostile, others unsettling, and others simply confusing.

by Midjourney

A Strange Influence

Perhaps stranger than the reports of the inner-workings of the Staircase, it appears to have exerted a pseudo-religious influence on the world of Midland (Realm 79: The Junction). Clerical members of the Twilight Domain began to form a splinter sect, known as the Order of the Staircase.

by Midjourney

These clerics began to gain unique abilities tied to the Staircase. Rather than gaining their abilities through worship or adherence to tenets, members of the Order of the Staircase seemed to gain their powers simply be recruiting new members to the order.