Banging Heads Against Pillars
The Assembly tries many things from banging the pillars, looking through them, using the Amulet of Lightbringer, using the Book of Trees, lighting fires – all to no effect.
Aran tosses his Ioun Stone into the air. It begins orbiting his head at a distance of about a foot. He feels more aware of his surroundings and feels like he won’t be surprised, but then it dawns on him. His Ioun Stone is of the same material as one of the pillars and the shape is a perfect fit for its cavity! He snatches it out of the air.
ARAN: I can’t believe you guys didn’t think of this.
He walks over to the dark blue pillar and slides it into place. Slowly. Like a gentleman. The fit is so perfect that it seems to softly fall into the cavity on a cushion of air. When it stops, there is no visual seam between the Ioun stone and the pillar.
The entire pillar begins to shake and crumble, revealing a large monstrosity: a Grick Alpha.
QARZ: Damnit Aran.
He immediately attempts to hold the creature in place. It doesn’t look like it’s worked, but it provides Rolan enough time to nail it twice with arrows. The creature’s tentacles writhe as it readies to strike Aran. However, Qhortho jumps in his face first, striking it with his Valyrian blade. Aran jumps to the side and slashes the beast with his guandao. It soars through its fleshy tentacles, causing one to fly off into the air. It disappears in a puff of mist. The creature screams just as it disappears in the same fashion, leaving behind an echo of its scream in the cavern.
A clank is heard as a glowing version of Aran’s Ioun Stone falls to the ground. Aran picks up the stone. Immediately they decide to try dropping the new stone into one of the other pillars with the same shape. They drop it into the pink pillar and it exhibits the same soft fall into the slot.
Nothing else happens, but because the fit is so perfect, they cannot get it out. Qarzdaq waves his hand in the air as if to say, “pfft, amateurs…” A translucent hand appears out of thin air and retrieves the stone from the cavity. The disembodied hand floats the Ioun Stone back to Aran.
After a few more minutes of discussion, Aran begins reattuning to the stone. As he does that, the others look for other stones or objects that might fit into these other pillars.
When Aran finishes attuning, a portal opens up next to him. Simultaneously, a portal opens in the center of the cavern. Each member takes a turn stepping through the portal and arriving at the other side, playing with the portal mechanic.
After deciding they are done, Aran stops thinking about the portal and it disappears. He realizes that the portal stays active as long as he maintains concentration and it only opens if he focuses on the stone for 30 seconds (a Spell with a casting time of 30 seconds).
They detach the rope from the stake in the ground and reel in the rope as the travel the underwater tunnels and emerge back at the surface to find they’d spent all day in the cavern. They untie the knots holding the rope segments together, each of them taking one 50′ segment, and rest for the night.
The next morning, they begin their trek back to town in search of more Ioun Stones.
Fuck Your Spider
Along their way, they notice one of the mountains in the area looks to have no snow at its peak. They decide to check it out. Even with Rolan’s expert guidance, it takes 3 days of tough climbing into increasingly colder weather before they reach the anomaly. Occasionally, Qarzdaq’s Amulet flickers to life and pulses. It pulses slightly faster when pointed in the direction of the peak.
Though the cold is bitter and the winds biting, the ground seems to be getting warmer as they ascend. Eventually, they reach patchy areas of no snow. Not much farther and the snow is entirely gone, yet the cold winds still numb their faces. Continuing their climb, they notice rocky hot spots with some appearing to have scorch marks.
About an hour later, they come across an arched tunnel in the side of the mountain. It is an about 8 feet tall and carved at an angle from the mountain face. After only 15 feet it cuts sharply to the other side, clearly meant to be hidden from long-distance onlookers.
Entering the tunnel offers a break from the cold wind. In fact, it feels quite warm and inviting; like a warm tavern on a cold winter night. The tunnel descends slightly, gradually getting wider and taller as it progresses into the shadows.
Before continuing, Aran spends 30 seconds to open a portal to Fire Lake. After it flares into existence with a soft hum, they continue down the tunnel.
It ends at a large door, easily 20 feet tall. A robed man walks calmly out of the darkened crevices. He has short blond hair and dark facial hair in the form of a thin moustache and thin sideburns. His finely-crafted robes are red and black. A leather-bound book hangs from a sash around his waist.
The man speaks with a heavy eastern accent with a flair of High Valyrian. Both Qarzdaq and Qhortho recognize the language as they’d lived their entire lives in those parts of the world before embarking on that ship.
STRANGER: I wasn’t sure how long I’d have to wait.
Qarzdaq steps forward.
QARZ: Wait for what? You were expecting us?
STRANGER: Yes. I heard you were heading this way. I am here to prevent you from unsealing that door.
QARZ: I see. What is your name?
STRANGER: I am Dakarysis.
(pronounced dakar-EE-sis)
QARZ: Do you know any vampires?
DAKARYSIS: That is an intriguing question. Why do you ask?
QARZ: We met one in town.
DAKARYSIS: You entered a home to meet this… vampire?
QARZ: Well, we knew the homeowner.
A 6″ spider crawls out of the shadows near the party but keeps a distance of 10 feet.
Aran notices the spider and looks around to his friends, trying to figure out if they are about to start fighting any moment.
DAKARYSIS: And… why did you enter my home?
QARZ: Your home? We were told it was Jarhuyn’s home.
(Qarzdaq pronounces it just as he’d always heard it… Jar-Hoon)
DAKARYSIS: It is jar-HOO-een. These Westerosi always mispronounce. Jarhuyn is the name I chose when I left the old country.
QARZ: Well, we let the vampire out.
ARAN: He’s dead.
QARZ: Actually, we don’t know that. He walked out of there on his own.
DAKARYSIS: Why were you in my home?
ROLAN: We thought it was someone else’s home.
QARZ: Yeah, we didn’t know it was YOUR home…. And we were hired under false pretenses.
DAKARYSIS: Hired? Hired by whom?
ROLAN: Thieves’ Guild.
QARZ: But we didn’t know that at the time.
ROLAN: They took advantage of how famous we are.
DAKARYSIS: I see… … … and what brings you here? More Thieves’ Guild?
ARAN: We need inside this door.
DAKARYSIS: No. You will not enter.
ARAN: Come on, just open it up and let us in.
DAKARYSIS: No.
ARAN: No? Why? What’s inside?
DAKARYSIS: This was the Pit of Light’s Sparks.
Rolan inconspicuously casts Darkvision. He doesn’t see anything particularly threatening, but he can’t see behind every rocky extrusion.
DAKARYSIS: You are not getting in here.
QARZ: Mr. Dakareesius…
DAKARYSIS: Dakarysis.
QARZ: I’ll be straight up with you. We are on a quest and there is a source of fire magic behind this door and we are here to retrieve that.
DAKARYSIS: No.
QARZ: No, we’re definitely here to do that.
DAKARYSIS: No.
QARZ: No, you’re not going to let us do that? Why Not?
DAKARYSIS: No. …
Qarzdaq just looks at him, pressuring Dakarysis to continue speaking.
DAKARYSIS: Why would I say anything more? There is nothing…
Aran crushes the nearby spider with his guandao. Dakarysis recoils slightly.
ROLAN: Why will you not let us in this room?
DAKARYSIS: Why would I tell you anything? What do I have to gain? There are only 2 possibilities as I see it. One where you come at me and I defeat you. In which case, it will be wasted breath. Or you defeat me, and I’ve helped you. I’m not going to help you.
ROLAN: Why???
DAKARYSIS: Because you are here to destroy the thing that’s been created. I’ve said too much already. Now you must leave.
QARZ: We have been squelching any magic that is upsetting the great balance. We recently put down water magic in the west. It was dark and evil magic and we’ve been sensing a fire magic imbalance up here and behind that door.
Qarzdaq shows him the unlit Amulet of Lightbringer.
DAKARYSIS: That is a nice trinket.
QARZ: It’s a little more than a trinket. It’s just not working right now.
DAKARYSIS: It is simply that you do not have the power to energize the Amulet. Unless it is an imposter.
QARZ: No, it’s the real thing. So does this get us through the door?
DAKARYSIS: No. … But it does make me curious.
QARZ: How so?
The man does not say another word. Instead, he slowly raises his hands and with a deep voice, says “darhekum.” Some small rocks begin to raise into the air from around Dakarysis.
However, Qarzdaq is ready for this. He immediately waves his hand and the rocks fall to the ground.
QHOR: Consider your next moves carefully. You say you know who you’re dealing with. I don’t think you do.
DAKARYSIS: I do not think you know who you are dealing with.
QHOR: I don’t give a shit who you are. You’ll just be another blood stain on my blade.
Qhortho unsheathes his sword and brings it up towards Dakarysis. Though it is a couple of feet from his face, Dakarysis takes one step backward to make it less uncomfortable.
Rolan adds some distance between himself and the Dakarysis then fires a couple of Truer Shot arrows. The first arrow strikes deep into his left shoulder. The second blows cleanly through his right shoulder. Dakarysis falls to the ground. Qhortho sees the opportunity and takes his head clean off.
The fire wizard’s body turns to ash; his head rolls a foot before it too turns to ash. The splattered spider remains also turn to ash. Along with his robe, he leaves behind a small coin pouch and spell book.
Hell of an Entrance
Aran and Qarzdaq approach the remains. Aran crouches down and shakes the robe gently, searching for hidden pockets or other useful or strange items, finding nothing of interest. Qarzdaq reaches for the spell book, which promptly turns to ash once it is touched.
Aran opens the small pouch just as Qhortho and Rolan walk over. He empties the contents onto the rocky floor and finds a small pile of gold and silver along with a moonstone pawn in the shape of a vampire and a small disk-like item with a symbol on it.
Qarzdaq immediately recognizes the symbol as the letter F in Draconic.
They cautiously approach the large door before them. It is easily 20′ tall with 3 smooth 3-foot diameter stone circular slabs. The slabs are slightly domed though they are as much a part of the door as the door’s material itself. The slabs feel so smooth as to be soft, but they are obviously some sort of stone.
Script is drawn onto the door above each of the circles, each in a different language. The script appears crisp though it is not carved into the doors. Upon closer inspection, Qarzdaq, recognizes 2 of the languages while Rolan and Aran recognize 1 each.
Qarzdaq recognizes the Draconic and Terran scripts from his time in Volantis. Rolan recognizes Aquan from his time studying with Jahor. Aran recognizes a little bit of Terran from some required teachings while learning blacksmithing.
After a few minutes, they decipher the Terran as “Grounds of Wisdom” – the Draconic as “Source of Dragons” – the Aquan as “Well of Life.”
Qarzdaq places his Amulet against the circular stone beneath the Draconic script, but nothing happens. Rolan tries the same with the Tear of Life near the Aquan script, but nothing happens here either. They discuss that they might require 3 artifacts, the Root of Knowledge being the 3rd, but they know the Children of the Forest have that.
They continue experimenting with pushing on the door with various combinations of fire, water, and dirt on the stones, with and without the 2 artifacts they have in their possession. Nothing yields any results until Qarzdaq realizes there is a small circular dish of sand to the far right of the tunnel. Approaching it he sees the letter “A” in Terran drawn into the sand.
QARZ: Hey guys, check this out. It’s an “A,” but how does that connect to the Grounds of Wisdom? Wait, I have an idea.
Qarzdaq approaches the circle near the Draconic script and traces an “F” in Draconic onto the stone with his finger. It leaves a shimmering trace of where his finger touched the stone, now slightly pulsing with light.
Aran approaches the Terran one and traces an “A.” The letter now glows as a rune on the stone.
ARAN: So now we have to figure out what goes in the Aquan one.
QARZ: Well, why would it be an “F” and an “A”?
ARAN: It’s got to be a “W” in Aquan! Rolan, can you draw that?
Rolan walks up to the Aquan script and traces the letter “W.” It also glows and causes all 3 to pulse before dimming to cold stone. They push on the door, but to no avail.
QARZ: Ok, one or more of these is wrong. Why is Grounds of Wisdom an “A”?
Over the next 10 minutes, they ponder the Root of Knowledge, sand, air, water, fire, and every possible commonality between elements and magic.
QHOR: Bah, Grounds of Wisdom must be Earth. “A” makes no sense.
The 3 of them look at Qhortho with incredulity. The sheer brilliance of the statement shocks Qarzdaq into walking back over to the sand tracing. He walks around to the other side of the dish, now facing the group. Looking down at the dish, then back up to his friends.
QARZ: This is no “A,” this IS an “E”! Damn Qhortho, nice job!
They trace the Draconic “F”, a Terran “E”, an Aquan “W” in their respective locations. A moment later, the doors open on their own accord revealing a great cathedral-like room.
A large army of actual-sized clay goblin figurines are positioned in a defensive stance. They are arranged in groups of 5 with a column of groups down each side of the cathedral forming an aisle down the center. All of them are facing forwards towards a 10′ wide chest at the rear of the room between two red pedestals.
The floor is crafted of very high-quality marble tiles: off-white with black diamonds.
Walking towards the chest, they see that the first row consists of normal-sized goblins and are carrying scimitars. The second row are larger in size, also carrying scimitars. The third row are normal-sized carrying short bows. The fourth are larger ones carrying javelins, all pointed forwards as if ready to attack. The fifth and final row are the large ones again with scimitars.
Aran says they should destroy these things before they come to life. They discuss the possibility of that sort of action causing them to come to life.
QARZ: If they do come to life, we’re going to have a hard time dealing with 50 of these things.
Aran walks up to one of the goblins carrying a short bow. He gets his face inches from the goblin’s.
ARAN: This is pretty creepy guys…
QARZ: Maybe we should just go for the chest.
With nothing happening and not wanting to live in the unknown, Aran strikes the nearby goblin with his guandao. The figure shatters to pieces. None of the goblins come to life.
He looks at the rest of the group and shrugs. He then plows through the rest of the row, shattered goblin figurines now scattered across the floor.
ARAN: This is at least as much fun as it looks.
Qhortho grins broadly and rushes through an entire line of the closest goblins, smashing and shattering them across the floor.
QHOR: YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!
Qarzdaq walks up to one and smacks it with his staff. It falls to the ground and breaks into a thousand pieces. He chuckles to himself finding way more amusement with that than he thought he would.
While Aran and Qhortho continue to smash everything in sight, Rolan walks up the center aisle towards the chest. He stops about a foot away and looks at it curiously. Qarzdaq steps up next to him a moment later, sharing the same curiosity.
ROLAN: I’m not sure this thing has any seams.
QARZ: Hmmm, that’s weird. Well, I guess we should try to open it.
Qarzdaq reaches out his hand.
ROLAN: Wait.
Qarzdaq stays his hand. The sound of shattering clay echoes through the chamber as Aran and Qhortho continue their smashfest. Rolan points at the ground next to the chest.
ROLAN: It looks like this thing was dragged into place or something.
QARZ: I bet this is the entrance.
ROLAN: If so, this has got to be heavy as shit.
They turn to watch Qhortho smashing the last of them with his bare hands.
QARZ: Hey guys, come over here and help us with this thing.
The Pit of Light’s Sparks
They all crowd around it. Qarzdaq is the first to touch the chest. A loud boom startles them. They spin around to see the entryway doors have slammed shut. Strange popping noises echo in the room as they see the porcelain pieces turning to flesh, mutilated and bloody.
ARAN: See? I knew breaking those things was the right move.
Aran and Qhortho get in position to push the chest towards the deep scratches in the floor, in the direction it seems to have been moved from. The chest is easily a thousand pounds, more than Qhortho could do alone. They all push, revealing a 10′ wide staircase leading under the floor of the cathedral room. Warm air hits them in the face, but it’s not exactly uncomfortable.
The walk under the chest and find what looks to be some sort of lever system attached to handles, but it is degraded and non-functional now. This was how they must have been moving the chest.
The staircase is dark with extinguished torches along the way every 20′. When the reach the bottom, about 20′ later, Qarzdaq lights the torches all around them. The walls are superior masonry; the floor is smooth stone. They realize now how little sound carries down here and how eerily quiet this makes the area.
The corridor splits at the bottom of the stairs. To the right, a short hall ends at a stone door. Almost directly ahead, slightly offset to the right, is an entryway to a large room. To the left, the corridor curves around the large room to the right with stone doors lining the left-side wall.
ROLAN: It’s a little toasty down here guys.
They all agree and shed their mountain layers.
Aran quickly checks his gauntlets: the staircase behind them is still the best way up.
They approach the stone door on the right to find that it is locked. Qarzdaq fetches his Chime of Opening.
ARAN: Maybe hold off on using that thing. Let’s see if we can find a key first.
Qarzdaq stows the Chime of Opening. Qhortho, still high on destruction, steps towards the door.
QHOR: I’ll break through this thing!
He smashes it as hard as he can with his bare hands, leaving no trace that he ever tried.
They turn around and reach the first stone door along the curved corridor. The door clearly has not been touched in a long time and is pretty well stuck closed. They all push at the same time and the door opens.
Immediately they see that the back wall is lined with bookshelves. Qarzdaq walks over to them and looks over the titles, which are all in Draconic. None of them stand out as anything well-known. Instead, they seem to be volumes of trials and experiments. He opens a few of the books and finds some are focused on experiments, some on spells, some on ritualistic sacrifices, some are just rantings and musings of Light’s Sparks members. He does find a common theme though: combining forces to bring about the revolution of gods. They all take a black and white tone; either “for or against” with no middle ground.
A desk is along a side wall with parchment and a dried ink well. It looks as if this was still in the works. Also in Draconic, it mentions sacrifices of creatures from the depths.
Looking in the desk, Aran finds several sheets of unused parchment and some sacrificing diagrams.
QHOR: What if they were making people-dragon hybrids??
As they are searching the room thoroughly, Qarzdaq notices some draconic scribbling near the door. Looking at it more carefully, it says “9267.” He makes a mental note of this.
Aran searches the bookcases carefully, looking for any sort of secret passage or hiding place. He finds nothing more than books.
They exit the room and continue left along the curved corridor. Qarzdaq lights up the torches positioned every 20′ to see the corridor straightens a bit then continues to curve to the right.
They stop at the next stone door. This one is also stuck, but it’s a little easier to open. This room is a sleeping quarters with a bed large enough for 1 or 2. It looks like it was abandoned with various items still lying around. They search the room and find some copper and silver along with an empty iron scroll case in very good condition.
They leave this room and find the next stone door, also stuck closed. Just across the corridor from this door, is another entryway to the large room they saw from the staircase. From this vantage point, several wooden chairs have been knocked over on one side of the large room. Deciding to hold off on exploring that room until they’ve explored the remaining side rooms.
They push on the stone door until it gives, revealing another sleeping quarters. The person that had been staying here had a little more wealth along with a silver mirror.
Continuing along the curved corridor, they find another stone door to yet another bedroom. Here they find more coinage and 3 pearls.
ARAN: It’s weird that no one is down here… and they haven’t been for some time.
All the sleeping quarters, the study, the superior masonry and refined living areas, not to mention the grand entryway, all add up to Light’s Sparks being more than just 1 or 2 people with an unhealthy obsession.
They continue along the corridor finding another closed stone door and inside, another sleeping quarters with more coins. Here they also find a lacquered wooden rod with star rose quartz set into one end.
Back into the curved corridor, they can tell they are at the far side of the large room, except there is no entryway to that room from here. To the left is another corridor that has a sharp turn to the left. The main corridor continues to curve around and they can see another stone door. They decide to stick to the plan and finish with these side rooms.
They find another stuck closed stone door and push it open. This sleeping quarters reveals more coins of copper and silver along with a ceramic comb.
The main corridor appears to end just ahead. To the left another stone door, but this one is open. To the right, another entryway to the large room. They enter the open door to find yet another sleeping quarters. However, this one has been cleaned out of all valuables. They look around and verify this is the case. They walk out of that room and into the large room across the hall.
Disheveled wooden chairs are in the left half of the room and an upended large wooden table is on the right. Directly ahead is an entryway by the sleeping quarters they recently passed by and to the left is the entryway near the stairs.
ARAN: There has to be a key around here somewhere. Let’s split up and search this room.
They all agree and after almost an hour, they finally find a key in a small recess at the top of one of the table legs.
They take it to the first door they found. The key works! They give it a good shove and it budges open about an inch.
Aran wedges the prying end of his war hammer into the gap just as Qhortho gives it another hard push. The door scrapes open.
This bedroom is appreciably nicer than the others. Immediately they see a dragon’s claw hanging from bronze chain on the bed post. They search the room and find a good amount of gold and platinum.
Knowing this area is sufficiently explored, they follow the main corridor to the offshoot between sleeping quarters. It turns hard to the right and extends another 50 feet. Qarzdaq continues to light their way until they reach an iron door with 4 circles, smaller versions of those on the cathedral door.
Qarzdaq steps up to the door and traces the Draconic numbers 9267 into the circles. With each entry, the path traced glows until all of the entries are complete. The door smoothly opens.
What’s Up Purple Perm? I mean…
They are hit with an uncomfortable wave of heat. Though each of them has the fortitude to continue, they are all impacted by the excess heat. The smell of decay quickly follows. They peer into the darkness down a flight of stairs easily 20 feet down. Just as they take their first steps, a ghost appears from the darkness and passes directly through them. It sails down the hallway and out of sight.
ROLAN: What the fuck was that?
Qarzdaq notices something on the stairs and lights the nearby torches on the walls.
ARAN: We’ll have to keep an eye out for that thing. I was gonna kill it, but it got away too quickly.
QHOR: Sure you were.
QARZ: Hey guys, looks like we have a lot of human bones down here. Watch your step.
Some of the bones have deep gouges in them. Qhortho examines one of the bones and attempts to line up the gouges with the dragon claw they’d recently acquired. They come close but not really enough to say it’s a match. He tries scratching the bone with the claw to no effect.
The walls and construction look to be of the same quality as the first floor. They continue cautiously down the staircase and upon reaching the bottom, they follow the corridor to the right then back to the left, entering a large sacrificing room.
Human and non-human remains lie around the area, with one creature’s remains on the large table-like slab in the center of the room. The creature on the slab has a dragon-like head but looks as if it stood upright.
Squared-off shallow holes surround the slab and are connected via a carved channel. Towards the head of the slab, the channels from each side combine and lead to a deeper hemisphere cut.
3 doors line each side of this room and a corridor leads out the far side. Each of the doors is labeled in Draconic.
On the left: Poisons, Potions, Vestments; on the right: Reagents, Gemstones, Tools.
They enter the Poisons room first. Inside they find 3 vials of a pale-colored paste, 4 vials of mucous, 3 vials of a reddish-brown sticky paste, and 1 vial of Purple Worm poison.
ROLAN: Oh shit! Purple worm!
ARAN: Sweet!
They go for the Potions room next. Here they find 3 potions of Fire Breath, 4 small jars of Keog’s Ointment, 2 potions of Heroism, 3 vials of a constantly swirling greenish-brown liquid, and 1 vial of a clear liquid that is somehow floating at the top of the vial with cloud-like impurities.
QARZ: Good score here guys.
They open the door to the Vestments to find robes of red, white, and black. Many of them have hoods, but not all. They each take hooded black ones and continue to the Gemstones door.
Here they find a series of labeled jars with gemstones: 2 black pearls, 2 blue spinels, 4 emeralds, 1 black sapphire, 3 green tourmalines. There is one additional jar labeled “Resurrection Diamonds,” but it is empty.
ROLAN: We should arm up our Rings of Universatility.
QARZ: Yeah, that’s a good idea.
Qarzdaq pushes a blue sapphire into his ring for some extra dexterity. It soon melds into the stone. Rolan also uses a blue sapphire. Qhortho uses a green tourmaline for extra proficiency in acrobatics while Aran uses a blue spinel for some extra perception.
Qarzdaq walks over to the Reagents room while the others check out the Tools room. Qarzdaq finds jars of bone dust, sand, sulfur, and some dead fireflies along with 4 bolts of silk and 8 bolts of linen.
The Spirits are Restless
The others open the door to the Tools room and see a ghost perusing a case of ornamental knives. It does not seem to have noticed the door open. 2 pickaxes and 4 shovels lie against the wall just inside the door. They quietly back away, but before they can get back to Qarzdaq, 2 ghosts come screaming from the dark corridor at the far end of the room.
Aran and Rolan become frightened at first sight, but although Aran is stunned for a few seconds, he manages to shake it off. Qhortho goes into a rage and attacks. As both strikes land, the ghost screams out as wisps of its outer edges float off and vanish.
Rolan fires a Truer Shot arrow through the chest of Qhortho’s target. It tears into several pieces and disappears with a faint cry. He fires a second Truer Shot arrow into the second ghost. This one gets lodged inside it, the entire arrow still visible from the outside. It’s gaze immediately falls on Rolan.
Qarzdaq hears the ruckus and rushes out of the Reagents room. He casts a Fire Bolt at the ghost. The outline of the ghost is beginning to look frayed all around.
The ghost dives into Qhortho, who then turns to Aran, who takes a defensive stance. Qhortho raises his Valyrian Greatsword, but luckily there is enough Qhortho still in control that he fumbles the attack. The blade leaves his hands, falling near the slab at the center of the room, not 15 feet away.
Aran watches the blade then looks to Qhortho.
ARAN: Well now what??
Qhortho grunts loudly then punches Aran square in the face.
Knowing Qhortho can take a few hits, Aran goes all out and attacks Qhortho, hoping to drive the ghost from his body. Though Qhortho would likely become frightened from the attacks, the ghost is in control now and that ability fails. Aran tries to grab him, but Qhortho’s body is simply too strong for him to get him grappled.
Suddenly, they are confronted by the ghost that was in the Tools room. It glides out of the room and immediately attacks Aran. Aran Is ready and strikes as it gets within range. It takes a strong hit but reaches out and drains some of Aran’s life.
Rolan shoots an arrow through the newcomer and it vanishes into wisps of ethereal fabric. He fires his next shot at Qhortho charged with Ensnaring Strike, but the shot sails slightly wide.
Qhortho pulls out his arakh. Qarzdaq casts Hold Creature on Qhortho just as he is raising his weapon for his next strike. He freezes mid-action and the rest of the party ties him up, hoping to hold him long enough to force the ghost out.
Qarzdaq bows his head and begins chanting a ritual he’d seen at the Red Temple of Volantis. He’s not sure he gets all the words right, but it seems close enough. Once Hold Creature wears off, Qhortho immediately struggles to get free, making sounds that have never before come from his mouth.
After another minute of struggling while Qarzdaq chants, Qhortho breaks free from the ropes, snapping them and fraying their ends. He gets to his feet and charges after Qarzdaq. Qarzdaq casts shield, causing Qhortho’s attack to bounce off the force barrier. This opens up a window for Aran and Rolan.
Aran rushes towards Qhortho and attacks just as Rolan fires a couple of arrows. All of the attacks cause a lot of damage, but Qhortho is relatively unscathed.
Qarzdaq casts Hold Creature again and they tie him up again.
This time, Qarzdaq’s chants seem more on point. However, it’s hard to say whether the ghost exits Qhortho by its own volition or whether Qarzdaq’s ritual actually worked. Either way, it flies towards Aran, who strikes it down with a single sweeping blow.
Qhortho shakes his head.
QHOR: GET ME OUT OF THESE SHACKLES!!!
Rolan leans down and removes the ropes from his wrists and ankles. Once his arms are free, he calms down a bit.
QHOR: I’m sorry I attacked you guys, that was crazy.
ARAN: I’m sorry I had to cut you like that.
QHOR: Oh it’s alright. Just a scratch really.
ARAN: Let’s go check out these knives!
They go into the Tools room and look through the windowed-case containing a series of ornamental knives. Some have ridiculously-curved blades that look pretty nice, but would be almost useless in battle. For ceremonial purposes though, they look top-notch.
Against the wall are some pickaxes and shovels, which seem out of place given the polish on everything; it doesn’t look like the residents would’ve needed anything like this. They take one of the pickaxes and one of the shovels, just in case.
Under Construction
They cautiously begin to explore the corridor at the far end of the room. Given how dark it is down here, it is great that all these torches are conveniently placed. Qarzdaq continues to light all of them as he gets within range. The heat is still very uncomfortable and the lack of any air circulation is getting to them. It is taking its toll, but it’s manageable.
After about 15′, the corridor takes a hard right and continues for about 50′ before another hard right. They walk another 50′ and enter a large room – even larger than the sacrificing room. Bones, human and otherwise, are scattered across the floor. A few pickaxes and shovels lie on the floor amongst crushed bones.
Only Qarzdaq and Rolan have the dark vision to see past the light of the torches, which extends brightly for 20′ and dimly for 20′ beyond. In the far distance, the far wall appears to have collapsed, leaving a wide pile of rubble. Or maybe the room hadn’t been finished yet. Perhaps they were expanding this chamber, explaining the need for pickaxes and shovels. Beyond the pile of rubble, there appears to be a large open natural cavern. A narrow tunnel leads downward from the far end of the cavern.
They slowly enter the room. They only make it a few feet before 2 wispy magenta specters suddenly appear and attack. Instantly, the Tear of Life and the Amulet of Lightbringer light up the area with blue and red.
Rolan fires his first arrow and it disintegrates one of the specters. The second specter dodges his second arrow. Qhortho charges and slashes through the second and it disintegrates as well. He turns to the others.
QHOR: Well those weren’t so tough!
A banshee and 2 wraiths fly towards them. Qarzdaq blasts a massive fireball that envelops all 3 at once. Their hope is that all 3 were killed, but a split second later, all 3 emerge from the fireball screaming and head for Aran.
Aran attacks first, slashing the banshee twice and smacking it with the butt of his guandao. He uses his reaction to cause even more harms. It wails in response shaking their minds to their cores.
One of the wraiths enters Aran’s attack range, but he’s caught slightly off-guard. The wraith reaches its black shadowy hand towards Aran and touches through his skin. Some of Aran’s life force is visibly sucked from him back into the wraith. The second wraith moves to attack, but Rolan’s arrow destroys it.
He then sends a second arrow towards the banshee, killing it as well. Qhortho runs up and destroys the last remaining wraith.
QHOR: Not so tough at all!
Rolan and Qarzdaq quickly spot something scurry out of sight beyond the rubble.
QARZ: Uhhh… Guys, something just moved out there… Why don’t we take a rest before we go check it out.
ARAN: What?? We’re just getting started!
QARZ: Dude, you’re not looking so hot. And honestly, I’m not feeling great either. I feel like I’m one strike away from getting knocked out here.
While Qarzdaq and Aran are discussing their next move, Rolan is looking over the room from his current position. He relays that it looks like Light’s Sparks may have broken through into that cavern and were slaughtered by whatever is down there.
ROLAN: I’m not sure how that other guy got out of here, but he may have actually prevented whatever killed his group from getting out into the world.
QARZ: And we are the ones who opened it back up. Great.
QHOR: We will kill them all!!
ARAN: Look, that guy was clearly not powerful enough to take it on, whatever it is. He was no match for us even. Yeah, we may have opened this up. And yeah, we may have been warned about it. But, we are going to be the ones that destroy it.
Backtracking
The group seems to agree, but they decide it is time to rest. They go back through the sacrificing room. They climb the stairs to relatively cooler air and close the iron door behind them. The circular slabs on the door quickly glow then fade. The plan is to go back to the nicest room so 2 can share the bed and the other 2 can sleep on the floor.
As they make their way around the corridor, the first ghost they saw makes a second appearance. It flies directly towards the group, ready to torment its victims.
Qarzdaq’s Amulet lights brightly and he immediately shoots 6 rays of fire from his fingertips. All 6 of them slam into the ghost and it disappears in a wispy scream of full release.
QHOR: Whoa.
Aran looks at Qarzdaq for a second with incredulity, but decides not to make a comment. Instead he looks to Qhortho.
ARAN: You sense any dragons around here?
QHOR: Nope. Not any of the gold ones anyway.
He reflexively pulls at his dragon scale armor a bit.
They spend the night and prepare to re-enter the second floor. As they pass the staircase to the cathedral entrance, Qarzdaq has a thought.
QARZ: Hey, what about using the Chime of Opening on that chest up there?
QHOR: Is it even a real chest?
ARAN: There’s no harm if it isn’t, right?
QARZ: Right. I tried it on the wall with the vampire and it didn’t work — and it wasn’t destroyed.
Qarzdaq retrieves the Chime and climbs the stairs. Everyone follows him up into the cathedral. Bloody goblin meat is still scattered across the otherwise pristine marble floor. Qarzdaq points the Chime at the large chest and gives it a thwap. It chimes loudly and the chest pops open. The Chime cracks down its entire length into multiple pieces, all falling to the floor.
Inside the chest is a vibrant purple pyramid-shaped stone, roughly an inch across.
Aran concentrates on his Ioun Stone for 30 seconds and opens a portal.
QARZ: Wait, I should attune to this thing first.
Qarzdaq spends an hour focusing on the Ioun Stone while the others just sit around playing cards using Aran’s playing card set. Suddenly, Qarzdaq jumps to his feet.
QARZ: I know Kung Fu!
They look at him, puzzled.
QARZ: Sorry… I know how this thing works!
He conveys that this Ioun Stone is rare. It stores spells cast into it, holding them indefinitely until the holder decides to cast the spell. The stone can store up to 3 levels worth of spells at a time.
Any creature can cast a spell of 1st through 3rd level into the stone by touching it as the spell is cast. The spell has no effect, other than to be stored in the stone. If the stone can’t hold the spell, the spell is expended without effect. The level of the slot used to cast the spell determines how much space it uses.
When the stone is used, the spell cast uses the slot level, spell save DC, spell attack bonus, and spellcasting ability of the original caster, but is otherwise treated as if the holder has cast the spell. After casting, the spell is no longer stored in the stone, freeing up space for more spells.
ARAN: Hey Rolan, you should probably hold onto this.
QARZ: Yeah, I agree.
Revisiting the Lake of Fire
Aran concentrates on his Ioun Stone for 30 seconds and opens a portal. They all step though and are back in the cavern under Fire Lake.
ARAN: Maybe I shouldn’t be in this battle because the portal will close if I lose Concentration.
QARZ: I don’t know. Knowing your Constitution, it’s unlikely.
ARAN: I guess you would know.
Aran’s tone says that he trusts Qarzdaq’s opinion, but only barely. And he might convince himself otherwise by the end of his next thought.
QARZ: I would, yes. First of all, your normal activity, like moving and attacking, doesn’t make you lose Concentration. The only ways you can lose it is if you do something else that needs your Concentration or when you take too much damage for you to handle. Oh and if you are incapacitated. Don’t do that.
ARAN: What do you mean “too much for me to handle?”…
QARZ: Well, whenever you take a hit, you must make a Constitution saving throw to maintain your Concentration. You’ll need at least 10 or half the damage you take, whichever is higher. If you take damage from multiple sources, you have to save against each source of damage separately.
ARAN: Got it. So pretty unlikely. By my estimates, I’d still have a 50/50 shot if I took 40 damage on a single hit!
QARZ: That’s what I’m saying.
Aran turns to the vibrant purple obelisk.
ARAN: I’ll take those odds. Let’s do this.
Qarzdaq slowly walks up to the obelisk, holding the stone at arm’s length in front of him.
He drops it into the cavity. It’s a perfect fit.
The seam between the edge of the stone and the obelisk disappears and the entire massive pillar begins to shake. Qarzdaq runs behind his front line. Qhortho takes a step towards it, preparing to attack. It sinks into the ground revealing a decrepit old woman with long twisted fingers. She screeches as she emerges from the crumbling stone.
She releases a cone of cold air towards Qhortho, but Qarzdaq notices it just in time. He Counterspells it, causing its very focused cone to disperse immediately into the air. Rolan fires 2 Truer Shot arrows at the she-bitch. She takes them both and cowers slightly.
Qhortho goes into a rage and attacks the old woman. The first is a massive blow, but the second is as horrible an attempt as could be made. His falls prone and his sword slides along the rocky ground.
Qarzdaq casts a series of scorching rays at the hag, she vanishes almost immediately. An upgraded vibrant purple Ioun Stone drops to the ground.
Aran jumps through the portal and it closes. The 3 remaining in the cavern look at each other in silence.
QHOR: Wait… what?
ROLAN: Did he just leave us here?
30 seconds later, a portal opens. Aran sticks his head through.
ARAN: Just kidding guys!
QARZ: Why would you do that?!
Aran laughs at their shock and they all pass though into the cathedral entrance. They decide it’s time for another long rest. Before they sleep, Rolan attunes to the stone and finds that the upgrade gives it 4 slots of spells. Qarzdaq casts a level 4 Fireball into it. Now, if Rolan activates the stone, it will circle around his head and give him the ability to cast that Fireball as an Action.
They take another long rest and awake feeling fully refreshed. They perform their morning rituals as they typically do, taking their time and feeling very safe down here. They head down the corridor to the iron door. Qarzdaq tries the code 9267, but it doesn’t work this time.
QHOR: You sure you did it right?
QARZ: Yeah, I’m sure… What’s going on here?
On Day 529, the party is now at 76.5kXP after earning a total of 5kXP this session… and they’ve only just begun to uncover the secrets within the Pit of Light’s Sparks.