Chapter 3.2 (Session 70, 18th December 2018)

In which our heroes discover the perils of interdimensional shenanigans     Book Two, Chapter 3.2 (session 70, 18 th December 2018)   The Party: Naergon Harna, elven wizard (Diviner) Mads Rangle, human fighter/warlock (Fiend: Archdevil Zariel) Jamna Gleamsilver, gnome rogue (Arcane Trickster) Tomaz Stormwind, human ranger (Hunter) Druscilla Oakenrock, dwarven cleric (Trickery: Mask) Talis Wintercrest, half-elven cleric (War: Bane)   “ Mads, what’s the plan?” asks Naergon. “ I think the only thing to do is to send Ringo over to that chest and try an open it ” replies Mads, “ I like your decisiveness, excellent, carry on ” Mads directs Ringo over to the circular table to inspect the shoe-box sized chest [stealth 15], Ringo communicates that the box is locked and he can’t open it.   Mads turns his attention to the dead cultists checking that they are just ordinary cult soldiers. Tomaz suggests “ those keys you picked up, you should have Ringo try them on the chest” “What keys?” asks Mads “ You said you’d picked up a key from the cult leader on the balcony” explains Tomaz haughtily. “ I picked up the hourglass that we used to operate the teleporter to get here, no keys” responds mads querulously. “ No I thought you picked up a key as in a set of keys?” says Tomaz. “ Well it is a key, it serves the same function as a key in that it operates the teleport. I doubt it’ll help with a locked chest though ” explains Mads patiently. “ Oh ok then” mutters Tomaz.   Tomaz steps away and casts Cure Wounds on himself, Mads takes the opportunity to cast invisibility on himself and Jamna. Jamna then attempts to sneak into the chamber to assist Ringo with the chest [stealth 19], arriving at the table she inspects the chest [investigation 18] and having just about convinced herself its safe, she catches out of the corner of her eye the faint glimmer of magical haze around the lock as if it were warded.   Naergon asks Mads “ is there any way that we can sneak past the elementals and down the corridor?” “Well we could try” responds Mads, gazing through Ringo’s eyes “ but the elemental blocks the western corridor, it will be very difficult to get past it” “What about the side corridor in front of it?” asks Naergon “ can we go that way?” Mads has Ringo shift position and then replies “ we could go that way but it ends in a door after a few feet, opening that door will alert the elementals I’m guessing”   Jamna moves down the corridor [stealth 31] and then inspects the door [investigation 30] and detects no evidence of any trap mechanics or hint of magical warding. Jamna then carefully opens the door [stealth 33] and slides into the chamber beyond. As she does so the earth elemental at the end of the corridor turns and stares at the door.   The room beyond was clearly once a wizard’s workroom. Worktables and benches are covered in notes, alchemical flasks, beakers, braziers and other arcane apparatus. More startling though is the whirlwind occupying the centre of the room, ten feet across and extending from floor to ceiling, it swirls endlessly, revealing a number of sparkling gems within it.   Jamna moves into the room and up to the whirlwind and attempts to reach in and grab one of the gems [sleight of hand 26]. As she reaches in and disturbs the air flow, one of the other gems gets dislodged and flung out to shatter on the floor. From the broken shards the form of an earth elemental begins to form, angrily glaring around the chamber. It snarls and rumbles in an unrecognisable language before heading towards the door. Jamna backs away deeper into the chamber [stealth 28] as the elemental bursts through the doorway.   Mads sees the elemental emerge through Ringo’s eyes and shouts out to Naergon “ beware, something is happening, there’s a rampaging elemental on its way!” Talis, Tomaz and Druscilla all turn to stare at the corridor as the sound of roaring and stomping grows louder. Mads cries “the other elementals don’t seem to be engaging it but it’s coming this way . . . I can’t see Jamna anywhere!”   Tomaz unable to see anything can hearing the sound of something large grinding up the corridor readies his bow [ready action]. Mads [invisible] moves cautiously forward down the corridor and casts Eldritch Blast at the elemental, hitting it once as he becomes visible and hurriedly steps back pulling his glaive forward. Druscilla also unable to see anything draws her rod and converts it to a battle axe, taking a guarded stance [ready action]. Talis says “I see you hiding at the back there Tomaz, hiding behind Naergon, make sure you note your cowardice in your book!” she then turns and casts Guardian of Faith at the far end of the corridor. Jamna cautiously moves towards the workroom doorway and peers out [dodge]. Naergon moves behind Tomaz, winking at Talis [dodge]. The earth elemental ploughs forward up the corridor, pushing through the Guardian and taking damage from the spectral sword. As it approaches Tomaz shoots [RA], his arrow screeching off the wall. “ How on earth could you miss that, it’s huge” cries Naergon incredulously, “ as effective as I’d expect ” purrs Talis with a grin. The elemental continues its advance as Druscilla swings her axe [RA], the blade biting deep. Mads also swings [AOO] and hits as the elemental approaches.   Tomaz grunts “ watch this ” under his breath and shoots the elemental twice. Mads steps forward and swings his glaive, wounding the elemental again. Druscilla swings again and hits, Talis steps into line and stabs the elemental once and then again [war priest] Winters Strike plunges straight through the creature’s torso and erupts out the other side, killing the elemental [critical]. “ That’s the way to do it” cries Naergon. “Yeah did you see that Tomaz, that’s what an effective stab looks like” shouts Mads.   “ Yeah, yeah, very droll” mutters Tomaz “ now if we could only convince the other elementals to advance in similar fashion” . Mads switches his gaze to look through Ringo’s eyes “ the others haven’t moved”. “One of you could run down, grab the chest and bring it back. That might do the trick” suggests Naergon. “ What if all three come at the same time?” asks Mads. “ They won’t all fit, we can fight them one at a time here” “OK then, leave it with me” says Mads as he instructs Ringo to lure the fire elemental into the corridor. Ringo moves across the room, drops his invisibility and shouts at the elemental before flying back towards Mads.   The elemental watches Ringo but doesn’t follow. Mads steps into the corridor and casts Eldritch Blast at the fire elemental, causing some damage. The elemental stares at Mads and then moves across the chamber out of his line of sight. “ It hasn’t come this way but it has moved” cries Mads. “ If it hasn’t advanced on you Mads, you should move to the end of the corridor and shoot it from there” suggests Naergon. “But that would mean alerting all of them, I didn’t want to do that” Mads replies “if I go down there, there’s a chance I’ll bring all three back with me. Are you fine with that?” “So what” shouts Tomaz “ they can only fit in the passage one at a time” “Yeah, until they get to where you’re standing, then they can spread out just dandy” Mads retorts.   Meanwhile Jamna, peering out of the door to the workroom decides to click her boots of speed, run across to the table, grab the chest, and race back to the rest of the party [stealth 25]. The elementals watch the box exit but do not pursue. Jamna runs up to Naergon, holds the box up and says “ there’s magic in this ”. “ OK, cool. Have we attracted the elementals attention?” asks Naergon. “NO!” responds Mads, peering down the corridor “ they haven’t moved”.   “ Is it worth just trying to sneak past them?” asks Tomaz. “ Go for it” urges Mads. “ I think we should just go bash them and drag them back up the corridor” says Druscilla. “ What about the chest?” says the invisible Jamna, still holding the box under Naergon’s nose. “ We’ll sort that out later” says Naergon, making shooing motions with his hands. “ So, Tomaz, are you going then or what?” asks Mads. “ Yes indeed” replies Tomaz who sneaks down the corridor in his elven boots [stealth 19] “I can see the fire elemental” he calls back from the corridor. “ Shoot it then ” shouts Mads, “ I’m waiting to see if it reacts first ” calls back Tomaz, “ it’s looking at me but not moving.” Tomaz moves all the way to the end of the corridor and peers around the corner into the room “ I can see both earth elementals too, they’re watching me but not attacking ” he shouts back to Mads.   Tomaz steps into the chamber and as he does so the earth elemental to the side swings a might fist at him, slamming him hard. Its second fist impacts the wall above his head. “ I’ve got their attention” screams Tomaz as he turns and heads back up the corridor. The elemental swings [AOO] at him, slamming him hard as he leaves. The fire elemental moves towards him as well.   Jamna moves into the corridor and shoots the fire elemental [loses invisibility], damaging it, before moving back and taking cover [dodge]. Mads also steps forward and casts Eldritch Blast at the fire elemental. Druscilla grips her battle axe and waits [ready action]. Tomaz moves up the corridor through Talis’s Guardian of Faith without taking damage, turns and shoots the fire elemental twice. The fire elemental backs away, out of sight.   Jamna moves down the corridor until she can see one of the earth elementals and shoots but misses and then takes cover [dodge]. Mads moves behind Jamna and casts Eldritch Blast at the earth elemental, hitting it multiple times. Druscilla stands behind them clutching her battle axe [ready action]. Tomaz moves back, saying “I think they only activate when we enter the room and won’t follow us up here, so we’re just going to have to snipe away from here”. “That’s not true because the other earth elemental charged straight at us remember” cries Mads. The earth elemental steps back out of sight.   Jamna creeps [dodge] further down the corridor until she can see the fire elemental and shoots but misses. Mads follows Jamna and casts Eldritch Blast at the fire elemental before stepping back out of sight. Druscilla continues to grip her battle axe behind Mads [ready action]. Tomaz moves forward and shoots the fire elemental, his first arrow misses but the second slams home viciously [critical] and then steps back behind Druscilla. The other earth elemental steps up and swings at Jamna, slamming her hard against the wall, she squirms out from under the immense fist [uncanny didge].   Jamna continues to shelter [dodge] and shoots at the other earth elemental, hitting. Mads advances and casts Eldritch Blast at the same earth elemental, causing significant damage [critical] and then steps back – the closest earth elemental swings at him with a huge fist [AOO] but misses. The elemental continues to pursue Mads, who turns and slices it with his glaive [AOO] but the lumbering elemental swings its huge fists, pounding Mads twice. Druscilla still can’t make it into action so advances and stays alert [ready action]. Tomaz moves up to Druscilla and knocks an arrow [ready action]. The earth elemental advances on mads, Tomaz reacts and shoots [RA], his arrow slamming home before the elemental raises its fists and slams Mads into the wall again and then steps away.   Jamna shoots at the fire elemental, hitting. Mads casts Eldritch Blast at the earth elemental hitting it multiple times before stepping back. The elemental advances, Mads swings his glaive [AOO] hitting it before the elemental swings its fists at Druscilla smashing the dwarf into the ground [critical] who drags herself back [withdraw] and swaps axe for crossbow. Tomaz shoots the fire elemental, hitting twice as the flames recede and the elemental disappears with a final poof of smoke. The earth elemental moves up and punches at Mads but misses before stepping back around the corner.   Jamna steps forward and shoots the elemental before stepping back up the corridor [dodge]. Mads also steps out and casts Eldritch Blast, hitting the elemental multiple times before stepping back. As the elemental advances round the corridor, Mads swings his glaive [AOO] hitting, the elemental swings its fists but misses. Druscilla loads her crossbow and waits [ready action]. Tomaz steps forward and shoots the southern earth elemental. The second earth elemental moves forward and punches mads twice, both fists pummelling him, before it steps back.   Jamna shoots the southern elemental and the steps back [dodge]. Mads casts Eldritch Blast also at the southern elemental, hitting it once.  The northern elemental steps forward, mads swings his glaive [AOO] but misses, Druscilla shoots [RA] and also misses. The elemental pummel Mads twice with its fists before stepping away. Druscilla loads her crossbow [ready action]. Tomaz moves and shoots the southern elemental twice, watching as it explodes into a pile if dust and dirt, “ two down, one to go ” he shouts in triumph.   Jamna steps out and shoots the last elemental before sliding back into the corridor [dodge]. Mads steps forward and casts Eldritch Blast, hitting once before stepping back. The elemental advances, Mads swings his glaive [AOO], hitting and Druscilla shoots her crossbow [RA] also hitting as the elemental swings its fists at Mads but misses. Druscilla loads her crossbow [ready action]. Mads shouts “ go and finish the job Tomaz” as the ranger steps forward and shoots, hitting the elemental twice.   “Let me show you how it’s done” says Jamna, stepping forward and shooting the elemental in the face. The elemental then collapses into a cloud of dirt and rock.   With that everyone advances into the chamber, Jamna turns to Naergon and asks “ can we open it now?” “Open what?” he replies frowning. “ The chest” says Jamna. “ Oh I left it up there ” says Naergon rather distractedly. “I’ll get it ” shouts Mads and runs off to fetch the box. “ I’m not wasting any spells on that, not now ” says Naergon sniffily as Mads places the chest on the table. “ I’ll do it myself then” says Jamna. “ Before you do that, can you just gather together a second” says Druscilla before casting Prayer of Healing. “ Thank you, thank you Druscilla ” says Tomaz gratefully. “ Yes indeed, very useful ” says Naergon. “ Thanks dearie ”, chimes in Talis, “I really needed that”.   Jamna says “ now, if you’d all care to just step back a bit, I’m going to open this chest. It’s magically warded so I recommend everyone move to a minimum safe distance of just up the corridor a bit. OK?” “Really?” sniffs Naergon “wouldn’t it be easier for you to take the box back to the entrance and open it there?” “OK, I’ll do that then ” and Jamna grabs the box and heads off up the corridor. Back in the entry chamber, she places the box in a corner and steps away casting Mage Hand. She then uses her legerdemain to attempt to unlock the box [thieves’ tools 24 with inspiration], which she does adroitly and without triggering any obvious magical effect. Scampering forward Jamna opens the chest and finds three scrolls within. Gathering them up, she tucks one into her tunic and takes the other two to Naergon “ I found these for you”. Naergon takes the scrolls and opens them, scanning them he concludes that one is a protection from earth elementals and the other a protection from fire elementals.  

Part 2 Heading out, Mads leads the party down the stairs onto a walkway that appears to stretch out across infinite space, thousands of stars twinkle in unfamiliar constellations and meteors streak through the vastness of the space above, beyond and below the pathway. Just beyond the stairs, a door, framed by nothingness, hangs suspended in space to the right. Fifty feet ahead the pathway enters an archway set in an endless stone wall that stretches away to either side as far as the eye can see. Through the archway an ordinary looking stone corridor leads away to right and left, whilst a wooden door sits in the opposite wall directly ahead. “ This is cool ” says Naergon.   As Naergon stands looking around across the endless void of space, supernovas exploding a billion miles away, and meteors shooting past, he stamps on the stone slabs “ It seems safe enough but do you think we should tie someone to some rope and send them off ahead to check it’s all solid and sturdy?” he asks. Mads points ahead and says “look the bloody footprints head straight ahead towards that archway.” “ Yes, well before we head that way, what about this door to our right?” says Tomaz. “ It’s just hanging in nothingness ” exclaims Mads “ seems a bit weird”. “Yes Tomaz, that’s what I’m saying” says Naergon “ but you’d want to be tied to a rope when you go there. Wouldn’t you?” “Err” muses Tomaz “ I, err . . . I’m strong, err . . .” “I’ll hold the other end of the rope for you” offers Mads.   Talis pulls a rope out of her bag saying “I’ve got rope Maddsy, if you like those sort of games . . .” “Err, no I think opening the door and going through it will help ascertain . . . err . . .” Tomaz continues to mumble. Naergon sighs “ Look, why don’t you just tie the rope round you and then go open the door?” A swarm of meteors shoot past over their heads, causing Naergon and Mads to duck slightly, “ you’ll be fine, trust me ” continues Naergon “ if you get disorientated, then we’ve got you on the rope”. “Hmmm ” ponders Tomaz suspiciously.   “You know what Tomaz ” says Mads incongruously “ we used to have another ranger with us before you turned up. Franz, and stuff like this. Well this was his bread and butter!” “Exactly ” agrees Naergon. “ Yeah well and look what happened to him” growls Tomaz. “ What do you mean ” cries Mads “ last I heard he was livening happily on some beach somewhere”. “The reports I read, indicated his dead body got thrown in a fire pit by mad cultists ” says Tomaz angrily. “No, no ” says Naergon “ you’re thinking of a different Franz”. “Hmmm, yeah ?” growls Tomaz suspiciously.   “ Look are you going to do this or what?” asks Mads proffering the rope. “ Yes, I am ” says Tomaz “ now give me that rope ” Eventually Tomaz lashes a loop of rope around himself and hands the rest back to Mads, eyeballing him he snarls “ make sure you keep a good tight hold on that ”. Mads grins back at him as Talis says “ I’ll hold it if you prefer Tommzy?” and then whispers to Mads “ do you have Gust of Wind memorised ?” and giggles. Naergon steps forward and takes the rope from Mads “ look Tomaz, are you going to do this or not? Would it make you feel better if I tied the other end of the rope to my immovable rod?” “Yes, yes, that would be far preferable ” declares Tomaz. Naergon does so and snaps the rod in mid-air above the pathway. Tomaz steps out towards the door.   Tomaz examines the door, it’s an ordinary looking wooden door that is unattached to anything else. It is surrounded by a faint, flickering blue line and between the stone pathway and the bottom of the door is good four inch wide gap. Walking to the side and leaning off the pathway as far as he dare he can see round the back of the door and past it to the infinite stone wall fifty feet away. “ It’s just a door” he calls back. “Good, now crack on and open it” shouts back Naergon. Leaning forward, Tomaz gingerly pushes the door open.   “Tomaz, what can you see ” calls Mads. “I think you’d enjoy this Naergon, it looks like a library” says Tomaz stepping inside. “ Right, come on, we’re getting nowhere standing around like a bunch of melons” says Naergon untying the rope and packing his rod away. “ Let’s press on, follow me” and he strides up to the door, peering inside he sees a circular room, clearly a library or study its curved walls lined with bookshelves stretching from the floor to the gently domed ceiling, some twenty feet above. A wheeled ladder is connected to a rail that runs round the bookshelves, giving access to the upper tiers. Naergon walks around looking at the bookshelves, he estimates there must be over 5000 books, scrolls, folios and such covering every conceivable subject “I really should arrange to have this lot transported back to my castle” he muses to himself. “ Look at this Naergon” says Tomaz, Naergon turns to find him standing at the delicate and ornate desk in the centre of the room. The desk is surrounded by piles of blank paper, many have fallen and hundreds of sheets of paper cover the floor. A large map rests on the desk, its corners held down by ordinary looking pebbles. “ Don’t touch that!” cries Naergon as he hurries across, hitching his skirts as he scampers around and across the piles of papers.   Peering at the map, Naergon concludes that it is a map of the elemental plane of fire and contains the location of the fabled City of Brass. “ Oooh. Oooh this is interesting ” says Naergon “ this is a very valuable piece of information” and he grabs the map off the table, rolling it up and tucking it in his robes. “ Right, let’s go then, time to move on” he says, turning away from the desk and heading for the door “ I’ll be back for the rest later, we’re wasting time here, and we need to get cracking. Come on!” Naergon leads the party back out onto the suspended pathway.   “ Crack on, let’s go” he urges and everyone scurries along towards the archway at the end. Part way along a swarm of meteors shoots over the pathway, interleaving between them, causing everyone to duck, twist and weave around to avoid them as they steak past [DEX saves for all – Naergon fails on a 5]. With a cry Naergon stumbles, tangles his feet in his robe and, arms wind-milling, falls from the pathway. Arms flailing, robe and long hair floating around him, he falls into infinity, getting smaller and smaller as the rest of the party watch in horror. Eventually the spinning elf disappears from their sight, swallowed by the vastness of infinity. Mads turns to the rest “ Should we press on?” “I suggest we do just that ” agrees Talis. “ Well, there’s nothing I can do to help him, so yeah let’s go” says Druscilla.   Mads leads the remaining members of the party to the archway, peering left and right they see an ordinary stone corridor leading away left and right. To the left it ends in a wooden door some twenty feet away, to the right the corridor turns away and opens into a large chamber. In front of him is another wooden door. Light pools out from the open chamber, which appears to be comfortably attired with overlarge furnishings. In the centre of the room, a red-skinned creature wearing armour of flame, bronze and volcanic stone sits cross-legged on the floor, studying a chessboard.   Druscilla says “ we’re here to find Iskandar not talk to demons, the footprints lead left, we should follow them” “Sounds right to me ” says Tomaz, “ Agreed ” mutters Mads clutching his glaive and staring into the chamber. As Jamna starts to walk towards the left-hand door, the red-skinned creature looks up and calls out “ My friends, my friends, please do not go that way it is trapped. No doubt you are looking for the cultist Iskandar are you not? Come this way my friends, I can help you.” Mads takes a step towards the chamber as the creature stands up, “should we go and speak with him?” he asks over his shoulder. “ Let’s be careful Mads” warns Talis “ we should check the area before blundering around”. “Yes we should check for weird and strange things not just traps and the like” says Tomaz from the rear. Talis waves her arms around vaguely “what in Bane’s name isn’t weird and strange about this place Tomaz?”   Jamna hesitating to continue forward, turns and examines the door in front of her [investigation 20] and can discern no obvious signs that it is trapped, so standing up she pushes the door open and peers inside. The small storage closet is lined with shelves holding hundreds of mundane and exotic arcane reagents and components. Most of the supplies appear to have evaporated, congealed or decayed. A long haired robed figure is rifling through the shelves, he turns, as the door opens, snarling and pointing a long glass rod at Jamna. “ Oh hi Naergon is this where you ended up then?” she drawls nonchalantly, covering her surprise at finding the elven wizard in a storage closet.  Naergon lowers his staff “yes, I was just looking around for a bit but there’s nothing very useful here. My advice is don’t fall off the path, it hurts when you land. I think I may have cracked a rib . . . or two” Mads peers over Jamna’s head “ are you Ok to carry on?” “Of course, a little plummet through the starry void is nothing for an elf like me, lets’ carry on, chop, chop!”   Jamna again starts to head towards the left-hand door, following the trail of bloody boot prints. As she does, the red-skinned creature again calls from its chamber “friends, friends, come this way. I can help you, you should be careful, it’s dangerous out there.” Talis ignores its entreaties but starts to inspect the floor and ceiling suspiciously but finds nothing [investigation 7]. The creature moves towards her, holding its hands out “ please my friend, I can help you. I know where Iskandar is, if only you will help me in return ”. Naergon stands behind Talis “ Good, you can tell me from there, no need to come any closer”. The creature reaches out to Naergon, smiling “Very well, I saw him stumble and fall, disappearing into the void clutching at some kind of blue mask. He must still be falling out there but I can save him, you need my help to reach him. I just need you to help me first in a trifling matter.” “Yes, well I’m not certain I do need your help as it happens ” says Naergon, “excuse me Talis, let me take a look around would you, no insult but I know what to look for, you don’t”.   Jamna reaches the far door and examines it [investigation 30] and concludes it also is not trapped. She pushes the door open, as she does so the chamber brightens as tiles in the ceiling begin to gently glow. Two massive hourglasses occupy this irregularly shaped chamber. Their glass globes are nearly fifteen feet across, with each hourglass rising almost to the ceiling thirty feet overhead. Each is suspended by chains, pulleys, and gears in such a way that it can be turned over to set its sand running. “ Oh this is a bit weird” says Jamna stepping inside, Druscilla waits at the door.   Looking around Jamna sees, slumped against the wall at the far side of the chamber, partially hidden by one of the hourglasses is the corpse of a cultist dressed in fine black robes lined in purple silk that are now charred and torn. Clutched in his red-stained hand is an intricately carved blue dragon mask. Lines of blood drain from great gashes across his torso and shoulders to form sticky, congealed pools on the stone-tiled floor. Jamna leans across and takes the mask, secreting it within her tunic.   The red-skinned creature continues to implore Naergon as the elf scrutinises the floor and walls “ please my friend we can help each other. This person you are looking for, this Iskandar and his mask. He said you would be coming to rescue him but he fell from the walkway whilst fighting other cultists. The only way you can recover him from the interstellar void and the depths of the flogellan is with a Wish. And I can grant you that Wish . . . or any wish you care to make.”   From behind Naergon Mads, standing next to Talis calls out “ Why were you sitting down playing chess with yourself?” The creature looks up, licks his black lips and smiles again but his eyes follow Naergon’s every move “because, my friend Xonthal the mage imprisoned me here. I may not leave and playing chess is all I have to keep me occupied. Once Xonthal would frequently attend me and play but he has not visited in many hundreds of years and I grow bored. Even when I have an opponent as witty, guileful and challenging as myself the game grows tedious after so many centuries. I find I can no longer defeat myself, every game ends in stalemate. Really it is rather dull.” “ Ha, ha, ha you’re that good that you can’t beat yourself?” laughs Mads. “Indeed, it is a sad consequence of my plight here”   “Right” continues Mads “so the only way we can save Iskandar is with a wish spell – a spell that you can grant to us?” the creature looks up sharply and takes half a step forward “ indeed, yes that is correct friend, I can grant you a wish, any wish you care to formulate but certainly we can reclaim Iskandar for you. Alas I cannot do so from within this chamber, Xonthal stripped me of all my powers when he bound me in here”.   Naergon, kneeling on the floor finds [investigation 26] an unbroken line of salt embedded in the mortar lines of the floor, stretching across the doorway and around the walls of the chamber in the cracks between the stones. Studying this and racking his memory [arcana 14] he recalls his masters explaining that salt forms the lynchpin of binding spells that hold summoned creatures in place. He feels confident that this salt border is the real prison that contains the creature, that it cannot cross the salt.   Standing up and dusting off his robes, Naergon says “ Thing is I don’t trust this creature. I wouldn’t go in there and I wouldn’t engage in further conversation .” Looking at the creature he continues “ I’m sorry but I don’t think you can help us, what you say doesn’t entirely make sense and I think you’re better off inside this chamber”. “NO!” cries the creature “I beg you, I saw this Iskandar that you seek with the mask, the blue mask. He fought and he fell, fell from the hallway into the flogellan between the spheres. He is lost, somewhere out there in the vastness of infinity but I can help you recover him. With the wish I can grant you, you can recover his body, and the mask . . . or you may choose to use the wish in other ways. Whatever your needs I can help you fulfil them, all I ask is that you allow me my freedom, break this line of salt and free me from this prison, I beseech you, please”   Naergon turns on his heel “ No, I will not” and walks down the corridor towards Druscilla. Mads and Talis watch him walk away “ Please, please my lord, lady, I can be of service to you. Three wishes I can grant unto you. Surely you have heard the tales of efreeti and genies. This is no lie, all I ask is one simple act of kindness and in return I can grant you your heart’s desire. Please my lady? Lord?”   Naergon calls over his shoulder “ you’re a liar, you were penned here because you are dangerous” the creature stretches out a hand “I was imprisoned here on the whim of a mad mage, so that he would have someone to play chess with. A thousand years I have been here and for the last eight hundred I’ve had no-one other than myself to play with.”   “ Well I’ve no intention of playing chess with you” says Naergon dismissively. “ I don’t wish to play chess, believe me I’ve exhausted that game beyond its limits. Oh my friend, I care not what you think of me but I can grant you wishes in return for such a small kindness. At no great inconvenience to yourself, just sweep away this paltry line of salt and end my unjust imprisonment.”   Turning, Naergon says “ if you can wish, just wish yourself out of there!” “Ah my friend, if only it were so easy” the creature says “but I am powerless within this prison, Xonthal made certain of that. Once freed from this iniquitous prison, however my powers will blossom and I will be able to grant you wishes, this I promise with all my heart. Please I beg, do not leave me to languish for another millennia in this empty cell.” “No, I’m not going to help, I am leaving now. Goodbye ” says Naergon as he walks down the corridor, past Druscilla and into the chamber to find Jamna “ and the rest of you, ignore him, he lies. I fell from the path and I returned without his aid.”   Druscilla follows Naergon into the hourglass chamber and joins Jamna looking at the corpse of Iskandar “ Well that’s that” says Naergon “he’s dead and there’s no mask, this has all been for nothing”. “We should leave ” says Druscilla with a sidelong glance at Jamna. “Yes, I guess we should ” agrees Naergon.  Tomaz stands in the doorway “ we should leave immediately and inform the Council, this was a wild goose chase, there never was a mask just a ploy to trap us in this place” Mads says “ well we can inform the Council right now, no need to leave”. “True ” agrees Tomaz “ but I don’t see the point of hanging around here when we can be in Waterdeep in a matter of minutes!” “For once Tomaz ” says Mads “ I agree with you wholeheartedly”   “ I can’t teleport us until after dawn” says Druscilla “ by my reckoning it’s probably only mid-afternoon” “No problem” says Tomaz “ we can head back to the village, have a hot meal and a decent nights rest and be in Waterdeep before the Council is out of bed” “Agreed” says Naergon “let’s go”.

Part 3 The party troops back to the teleport chamber, ignoring the pleas of the red-skinned creature in his prison. “All we need do is teleport to one of the chambers in the tower and then out to the sundial” says Naergon. “ Hang on a minute” says Mads “there is a door we haven’t checked, up on the balcony and in the observatory – maybe it’s the same door but maybe not. Maybe Iskandar hid the mask up there. Surely we should check before we leave?” “ What’s the point?” says Naergon “ there is no mask, it was a trap, that’s just a waste of time” “Still it will only take a moment” insists Mads “why would we not check?” “I agree with mads” says Druscilla “we should check before we leave, just in case” “Very well, go check if you must” says Naergon petulantly.   “ What are you hiding from us?” asks Mads “ why are you so against checking?” “Mads, Mads, I’m hiding nothing from you, that’s not my way but simple deduction indicates there is no mask and this would be a waste of time but feel free to go and check if you must but I think you’re wasting time.” Mads looks round “well if you say so Naergon, your word is good enough for me.” “ Fine then” says Naergon and presses the control button, teleporting the party out of the tower and onto the path leading to the sundial.   Naergon leads the party down the path, past the sundial and out of the maze, back into the village of Xonthal’s Tower “I’m looking forward to a night in a nice bed” says Tomaz “ I thought rangers were all about sleeping under the stars with bracken and moss for beds?” questions Mads. “ Well I’m looking forward to a good sleep too” says Naergon “ this has all been very exciting and weird but as usual it’s also been a complete failure.” “Me too” says Druscilla “but first maybe find an inn and a pint?”   They come to a halt as they see a number of villagers running around and the cries and wails of other villagers start to register. Several buildings are burning and flame and smoke shrouds the village but can’t hide the huge blue dragon that swoops down over the closest house and hovers in front of the party, wings beating clouds of smoke and dirt into the air. It roars “ You will give me that mask, now!”   Naergon looks around in confusion “err” he begins but the dragon impatiently interrupts “ give the mask to me, it does not belong to you .” Druscilla pipes up “ what mask?”, “yes what mask?” adds Naergon gathering his wits. “ The mask you have taken from the Tower” the dragon roars. “Seriously ” stammers Naergon beginning to giggle a little hysterically “ what mask, we have no mask?” Naergon, Druscilla and Talis all look around in confusion asking “ what mask?” The dragon beats its wings “ if you wish to live, you will give that mask up now. It is not yours”. Naergon says “ but we haven’t got a mask, I’d happily give you one if I had but we haven’t I’m afraid”. Jamna shouts “ yeah we haven’t got a mask, so go away” The dragon looks from one to the other, turns and breathes a line of lightning through the closest house, the thatch bursts into flame, peasants are flung out of windows, others run screaming from the burning wreckage, clothes and hair smouldering. “ The mask you fools, return it now and I’ll leave these crawling ants their miserable lives. The Queen returns, who are you to stand in Her way? GIVE. ME. THE. MASK!”   Naergon turns to the others “ This dragon appears pretty convinced we have the mask, which we don’t. I think we’re going to need to prove it. Can everyone turf their backpacks out onto the ground?” “I know I haven’t got it ” says Tomaz, “me neither ” says Druscilla. “ Even if we did have it would we give it up?” asks Mads. “ At this point in time Mads, the answer is YES!” shouts Naergon “ there’s a bloody dragon demanding it and we’re all out of options! I can’t take on a dragon and who knows how many cultists at the moment, can you with your glaive? Is that enough do you think?”   Mads steps back “ I don’t have a mask, I haven’t even seen a mask” “Indeed” says Naergon “ so why not just turn your kit out. All of you. And prove it. Because this fellah seems pretty convinced we do and unless we can prove otherwise we’re dead meat!”   Jamna unslings her pack and empties it onto the floor [sleight of hand 25 to conceal the mask]. Mads unslings his pack and empties it out on the floor and then holds open his bag of holding in front of the dragon in full sight, plunges his hand in and cries “ give me the dragon mask” and then shows his empty hand “ sorry but it’s not in there”. Naergon also empties his bags as does Tomaz “ you see I have nothing of interest to you.” Talis says “ honestly this is ridiculous, I haven’t got a mask – the only reason I’m here frankly is because I didn’t get a mask ” but she tips her bag open on the ground anyway “ either the dragon’s lying or he knows something we don’t. If one of you lot is holding out on me I’m going to be real pissed.” “Not me, I haven’t even seen a mask” says Druscilla tipping her pack open at her feet.   The dragon circles round in frustration, roars and breathes a line of lightning across the village, destroying more houses and injuring and killing more villagers. “ You deceitful scum. Where is the mask the traitor gave to you?” Mads looks across at Naergon “what do we do?” “ I have no idea, we’re at an impasse. The dragon seems convinced we have a mask but we don’t. Unless, unless, someone is holding out on us. And I suggest if you are ” he looks round the group “ then now is the time to admit it and hand the mask over. Because if that thing attacks me, I’m leaving, I’m not staying to help anyone else because I can’t. if it attacks all I can do is save myself” “I agree” says Druscilla “ if anyone is holding out on us, you have to give it up now”.   The dragon swirls around beating its wings, blowing smoke and flames across more of the village then circles around and breathes another line of lightning, more villagers run screaming, others crumple to the ground reduced to blackened husks, another building bursts into flame. “I grow impatient maggots, the mask. NOW!“   Jamna says “ we don’t have a mask but we met an efreeti in the Tower, he claimed he knew where the mask was. Tried to convince us to free it so we could claim it but Naergon refused to do so. Maybe you should go question him because we don’t have your mask ” [deception 7]. The dragon does not look convinced, nor does Naergon who looks askance at her [insight 21] her stuttering attempts at denial and obfuscation seem eminently false to him. “Jamna ” he says “ don’t take this personally but I think we should examine your belongings in more detail” Jamna whispers to Naergon “ shut up, I have the mask, we just need to get out of here with it”   Mads slaps his chest and shouts “ Azhuk” [draconic ‘blue’] and his armour shimmers blue as the dragon’s head whips round to stare at him. Naergon leans down and whispers back to Jamna “ if you pull the mask out now and hand it over, I think we might just get out of here. This is your chance to do the right thing, rather than have me denounce you in public. Your call.” Tomaz steps forward and says “ Mr. Dragon (for I do not know your name) I can swear to you that I do not possess, nor have any knowledge of the blue mask. But I can tell you we found the traitor Iskandar and that he is dead and had no mask on him.” Talis steps forward and bows low “ Your draconic majesty, we do not possess the mask. I admit we came here in search of one but we did not find it. If it exists it remains in the tower with Jawen Pawl and Iskandar in which case your mask is safe. We. Do. Not. Have. It.” Druscilla slowly steps to the side, away from the party.   The dragon sweeps and around and dives towards the party, roaring and beating its wings in an attempt to intimidate [Frightful Presence], Mads stands proud undaunted in his shimmering blue armour, Tomaz clutches his bow and stands alongside him, everyone else quail and bow in fear.   Jamna, reluctantly pulls out the mask and averting her eyes from the glare of the dragon hands the mask to Naergon “this is on you ”. Mads, staring in disbelief at Jamna and seeing that most of the others are cowed by the dragon, takes a defensive stance and waits [dodge]. Naergon, taking the mask from Jamna, turns, hand shaking slightly and says “ this is what you came for. It’s yours! ” and hurls the mask towards the dragon. The enraged beast snatches the mask from the air in one mighty claw “ Indeed! Now be gone, shall I see you again I shall eat you ” and begins to beat its wings to gain altitude. As it does so Naergon casts Detect Magic [detects as illusion and invocation, quite different from the magic output of the green mask and nowhere near as powerful].   Tomaz stares the dragon out as it wheels into the air staying vigilant [dodge], Talis drops to one knee, lays her spear at her side and bows her head low, refusing to meet the dragon’s glare. Druscilla steps further into the trees and attempts to hide. The dragon rises and turns away, circling higher and higher, in the process it again breathes lightning across the village, houses bursting into flames, villagers run screaming.   Naergon turns to the others as the dragon disappears into the evening sky “ Excellent, well I think we got lucky there people!” All around them buildings continue to burn and the bodies of charred villagers lie in the streets, other villagers run around trying to help the badly burnt survivors. Naergon continues “ I think we dodged death there. I don’t know about you but I could do with a good night’s rest?” Mads turns to him “ Should we not assist with these fires and help these innocent villagers first?” “We should indeed ” agrees Naergon, Tomaz mutters “ the vaguely innocent, you mean ”.   Gathering their wits the party assist in putting out the fires, establishing a hospice for the survivors and generally managing the crisis. The villagers appear very confused and don’t really question why the party are here, just gratefully accepting the assistance. Eventually, the village secured, fires doused and the injured made as comfortable as possible, the heroes settle down to eat a meagre supper and take a well-deserved rest.   During the course of the evening it becomes apparent through discussion with the villagers that since the party entered the maze, although only the majority of a single day has passed for them [mid-morning to mid-afternoon of 20 th Mirtul] some three months have passed in the real world, the villagers insisting that this is the evening of 20 th Elesias. Druscilla reminds everyone “ remember when we were separated and you walked back to the sundial in a couple of minutes, well I waited for several hours for you to appear. Time in that maze and tower doesn’t work like it des here”. “This is good” muses Naergon “ I’m losing my youth to this place”. “What?” cries Mads “ the opposite is true, it is the world that has grown older, we remain young” “oh, yes, you’re right Mads, what was I thinking?” mumbles Naergon. Talis looks back to the maze entrance “perpetual youth . . . “ she breathes and glances at Mads and nudges him whispering “ just think we could stay young and virile for ever in there ” and winks as she gets up and heads to bed “ if it’s been three months since I had any sleep, I’m making up for it right now. Anyone else?”   Naergon, looks up “ chill out, it’s not so bad, it’s just time, plenty of that left”. Tomaz frowns and says “ my problem is that the cult have had three months to further their plans and now have a blue mask as well ” Mads turns to him “ you didn’t seem to care so much when you were kissing up to that dragon? And to be clear, the cult already had the mask, it was the cultist Iskandar that offered it to the Council.”   Naergon, staring into the fire, looks up “ there’s two things we need to deal with. One, Jamna: we need to have a discussion about your behaviour, I’m not happy about your actions here and we need to get things straightened out because that’s not happening again, hear me? I can tolerate your light-fingered ways over a silver goblet here and there but this? This is the ENTIRE reason we’re doing this. I can’t have you deceiving us over this, it’s utterly unacceptable” Jamna glares back at him “ we were sent here to get that mask and I’m the one person who managed it, now you criticise me for that?” “Yes I do” responds Naergon “ not that you found it but that you concealed it from us. You should have told us you had it when you found it, why would you not? In fact I’m not sure we can accept your presence in this group any longer, if you can’t be trusted then perhaps you should leave?” From the dark outside the firelight Talis calls out “ can we all make suggestions for people that should leave? I could name names, do we all get a vote?” Jamna looks up and then across at Druscilla “ I grabbed the mask, that’s what we came here for, you don’t trust me fine, I can live without your trust. There’s others here I don’t trust and as far as I’m concerned the fewer that knew, the safer the mask was. Last I knew you weren’t my boss, we work for the Council, let’s see how happy they are that you meekly handed back the mask?”   With that everyone retires to bed, prepared to rise with the dawn and teleport to Waterdeep, for what will surely be an interesting Council session.     Next time: The more things change . . .   Levels were gained this session:   Naergon 15 th level Mads 14 th level Jamna 14 th level Tomaz 14 th level Druscilla 14 th level Talis 11 th level     XP earnt is now irrelevant as the rest of TOD is based on milestone XP   In-Game the session ended at 06:00 on 21 st Elesias 1485 DR [three months after the party entered the maze] (The last Long Rest was completed at 06:00 by all. No short rest has been taken since)   Next session Tuesday 8 th January at 19:15